Said Nursi[a] (1877[13] – 23 March 1960) was a Kurdish scholar of Islam who wrote the Risale-i Nur Collection, a body of Qur'anic commentary exceeding six thousand pages.

Nursi inspired a religious movement[18][19] that has played a vital role in the revival of Islam in Turkey and now numbers several millions of followers worldwide.

In the "New Said" period he entirely abstained from politics, and focused on writing Risale-i Nur collection using reasoning to demonstrate truth of Islam.

From 1949 till his death in 1960 he considers as "3rd Said" period when he experienced relative freedom which coincides with the first democratic elections in Turkey.

[25] Said Nursi was born in the Kurdish village of Nurs near Hizan in the Bitlis Vilayet of the Ottoman Empire.

[26] His father Mirza and his mother Nuriye both were Ahl al-Bayt (lineage of the Islamic prophet Muhammad).

He studied the principles of history, geography, mathematics, geology, physics, chemistry, astronomy, and philosophy during his stay, besides Islamic sciences.

[33] In 1911 when he was asked what he thinks about the idea of appointing Armenians as Governors in Ottoman States, he responded that there is no harm of doing this as there is no harm of Armenians being engineers, watchmakers [34] Enraged by a newspaper report claiming that William Gladstone, the British Secretary for Colonies, stated in the parliament: "so long as the Muslims have the Qur’an we shall be unable to dominate them.

It was during these experiences that he allegedly wrote his Quranic commentary, İşârâtü'l-İ'câz [tr] dictating to a scribe while on horseback or when he was back in trenches.

He exposed foreign powers manipulating religious leaders to undermine the nascent National Independence Movement in Anatolia.

The extraordinary abilities of animals (like cows producing fundamental nutrients for humans from converting raw grass, trees doing photosynthesis to produce sugar and carrying water to 200 feet high leaves, trees growing from a tiny seed) cannot be attributed to them but to their Creator.

[46] Nursi considered materialism and atheism and their source materialist philosophy to be his true enemies in this age of science, reason, and civilization.

'[49][50] In order to be able to pursue this 'spiritual jihad' Nursi insisted that his students avoided any use of force and disruptive action.

Through 'positive action,' and the maintenance of public order and security, the supposed damage caused by the forces of unbelief could be 'repaired' by the 'healing' truths of the Quran.

[52][53] Said Nursi was exiled to the Isparta Province for, amongst other things, performing the call to prayer in the Arabic language.

[54] After his teachings attracted people in the area, the governor of Isparta sent him to a village named Barla[55] where he wrote two-thirds of his Risale-i Nur.

[56] These manuscripts were sent to Sav, another village in the region, where people duplicated them in Arabic script (which was officially replaced by the modern Turkish alphabet in 1928).

[57] Nursi repeatedly stated that all the persecutions and hardships inflicted on him by the secularist regime were God's blessings and that having destroyed the formal religious establishment, they had unwittingly left popular Islam as the only authentic faith of the Turks.

[61] Said Nursi lived much of his life in prison and in exile (over 20 years), persecuted by the secularist state for having invested in religious revival.

[62] He advised his students to focus on spreading Risale-i Nur books and teaching people about them even when they were in jail.

[64] Alarmed by the growing popularity of Nursi's teachings, which had spread even among the intellectuals and the military officers, the government arrested him for allegedly violating laws mandating secularism and sent him to exile.

[citation needed] After the introduction of the multi-party system, he advised his followers to vote for the Democratic Party of Adnan Menderes, which had restored some religious freedom.

[66][67] After the military coup d'état in Turkey in 1960, a group of soldiers led by the later right-wing politician Alparslan Türkeş opened his grave and buried him at an unknown place near Isparta during July 1960 in order to prevent popular veneration.