Said Nursi

Said Nursî, (1878 – March 23, 1960) is an Islamic scholar who wrote Risale-i Nur Collection, a body of Qur'anic commentary exceeding six thousand pages. He is commonly known as Bediüzzaman, which means "the wonder of the age".

He was finally released in 1949. In the last decade of his life he settled in Isparta city. After the introduction of the multi-party system he advised his followers to vote for the Democratic Party of Adnan Menderes which gained the support of the rural and conservative populations. Because Said Nursî considered communism the greatest danger of that time, he also supported the pro-Western orientation of the Democrats, leading to his support of NATO, CENTO and Turkey's participation in the Korean war. He tried to unite Muslims and Christians in the struggle against communism and materialism therefore he corresponded with the Pope and the Greek Orthodox patriarch.

In 1956 he was allowed to have his writings printed. His books are collected under the name The Collection Of Risale-i Nur (Letters of Light).

His tomb in Urfa (demolished in July 1960)

He died of exhaustion after traveling to Urfa. He was buried on the premises where according to Islamic beliefs Abraham (Ibrahim) is buried. After the military coup d'état in Turkey in 1960, a group of soldiers led by the later extreme 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. His followers are reported to have found his grave after years of searching in the area, and took his remains to a secret place in an effort to protect his body from further disturbance. Now, only two followers of him know where he is buried. When one of them dies, the other one tells one more person the secret place of the grave reducing the chance that the place be forgotten. Interestingly enough, he wrote in a treaty (risala), that no one should know where his tomb is.