Nur Sakeenah Thomas
(Inspirational lessons from Risale-i Nur)
In the name of God, the merciful, the compassionate
And from Him do we seek help.
All praise be to God, the Sustainer of All the Worlds, and blessings and peace be upon our master Muhammad and on all his family and companions
Now await in patience the command of your Sustainer, for verily you are in Our eyes, and glorify with praise your Sustainer (At Tur:48).
Bediuzzaman Said Nursi has strong focus on God throughout his life long struggle as he patiently endures all the difficulties, isolation, deprivation and hardship while putting great efforts to spread the beautiful messages from the Quran as a means to save belief. Ustad Nursi feels the harsh situations that draw us away from God so he struggles to spread the message of God through his Risale-i Nur to bring us back to Him. In The Words, Ustad consoles us to be patient in three respects which are as follows: patience in worship, patience in refraining from sins and patience in the face of disaster. Ustad inspires us to adhere to these guiding truths as the strength of patience given by Almighty God will be sufficient for us to withstand the difficulties and disaster. Moreover he asserts that by seeking help from God through worship, we will discover two mines which are important sources for a productive worldly livelihood and livelihood and provisions for the hereafter.
O believers! Seek help (to encounter hardship in fulfilling God’s commands) in patience and As Salat (prayer). Truly Allah is with As Sabirin (the patient ones) (Al Baqarah 153)
In reality, there are always wisdom behind all the hardship we face and there are always love and mercy in God’s plans and decisions. As life is filled with challenging situations, Ustad Nursi teaches us patience through reliance on God. The challenges from negative situations discourage us if we rely on our own selves, but when we put our ultimate reliance on God, we will feel His total care and guidance and eventually we will taste the sweetness of patience as we feel God’s presence in our lives when we feel the beauty of God’s guidance in troubled times. We will realise things happen for a beautiful reason, so we will not complain with sorrow but we will offer thanks with joy.
If there is a little hardship, it should be met with enthusiasm, thanks, and patience. Since our Creator, Who employs us, is All-Compassionate and Wise, we should rely on His mercy and wisdom and meet everything with resignation and joy (The thirteenth Ray).
Ustad Nursi always inspires us to be patient in any difficult situations. He sees Divine Mercy when facing a distressing situation in Eskisehir Prison, so he earnestly consoles his students to be enthusiastic, patient and offer thanks as there are mercy and bounty in every situation. He did not complain about the situation but he offered deep thanks as he says in The Flashes that our way is thanks and to see an aspect of mercy and an aspect of bounty in everything. He asserts in The Words that he who believes in Divine Determining is saved from grief and in The Rays that he who believes in Divine Determining is saved from unhappiness. Thus, challenges in life will not distract us if we learn patience through trust in God as we deeply sense His protection in whatever situations and feel the joy of refuge in God.
“We should try to always see the trace, face and essence of mercy in things which will cause us not to complain, but to offer thanks” (The Flashes).
Ustad Nursi inspires his students to practice patience, offer thanks and endurance as he feels the joy. He asserts in The Ray that his difficulties are transformed into mercy. We can learn from his struggle in patience when he wrote letters to his students on inspirational lessons of seeking refuge in God while in Denizli Prison. His strong inspiring personality shines through the letters he wrote to advice his students to practice total patience, offer thanks and endure the situation that causes them distress and hardship by focusing patiently through God. He also asserts that the transient hardships as the ‘School of Joseph’ will produce everlasting pleasures and benefits as the sadness transformed into congratulations and appreciation through steadfastness and good thoughts by God’s will. Thus, Ustad inspires us to focus patiently on the hereafter which are like diamonds as it is the place we will feel true happiness when we reach our final home.
“…the worldly life are glasses that can easily break… the matters of the hereafter are like diamonds” (Tarihce-i Hayati).
“And those who remain patient, seeking their Lord’s Countenance, perform As-Salat (Iqamat-as-Salat), and spend out of that which We have bestowed on them, secretly and openly, and defend evil with good, for such there is a good end; ‘Adn (Eden) Paradise (everlasting Gardens), which they shall enter and (also) those who acted righteously from among their fathers, and their wives, and their offspring. And angels shall enter unto them from every gate (saying): “Salamun ‘Alaikum (peace be upon you) for that you persevered in patience! Excellent indeed is the final home!” (Ra’d 22-24)
Glory be unto to You! We have no knowledge save that which You have taught us; indeed, You are All-Knowing, All-Wise (Al Baqarah:32).
15 April 2018
