PREFACE

Muslims as members of the last divine religion, Islam, need to come together, express their opinions in an international platform on various matters and cooperate in dealing with the problems concerning not only themselves, but also other human beings. This basic reason is the most important impetus behind the idea of “Islamic Unity.” The idea of the Islamic Unity if realized one day in its ideal form will hopefully become the common voice of the Muslim world and preserve the rights and welfare of all Muslims living in Islamic countries as well as nonIslamic countries and eventually will promote peace and security among various nations of the world. Muslims as inheritors of a glorious civilization that lasted for centuries in the past, nowadays have a heart-touching appearance in many ways. Muslim societies and countries have been grappling with a great number of challenging problems which they cannot overcome by themselves separately. Throughout the nineteenth century and until the beginning of the second half of the twentieth century majority of Muslim lands in Asia, the Middle East, Africa and the South East Asia were occupied by the colonial powers of the West and after winning their political independence Muslim nations still had to struggle with a multitude of social, economical, and political problems. Poverty, ignorance, social, ethnic and political conflicts and administrative crises often aggravated by the intervention of foreign powers are just a few of their most common troubles. Muslim countries mostly have had neither the proficiency nor the sufficient economical and human resources to overcome these huge multifaceted problems. Therefore there seems to be a tremendous need for the presence of a colossal organization or body which we may call “Islamic Unity” that must establish and maintain cooperation between Muslim peoples and countries in their struggle with their problems. This book which aims at explaining the views of the great Islamic scholar Bediuzzaman Said Nursi over the basic problems of the Islamic world and the ways of solving them through the project of “Islamic Unity” proposes basically unity and brotherhood for the Muslims and then peace and tranquility for mankind. He has skilfully designated the symptoms, diagnosed the illnesses of the Islamic world and prescribed the appropriate treatment for them. His treatment method, which he expounds in his masterwork, the Collection of Risale-i Nur, reflects the messages of the Divine Book, the Qur’an and seems to suggest peace, justice, development and happiness not only for the Muslim societies but for all mankind as well. We hopefully wish this book to serve to these noble aims.
Yeni Asya Publications