was under foreign domination and suffering dissension of all kinds. Bediuzzaman wrote:
"Unlike other works, the Risale-i Nur was not taken from the sciences and branches of learning or from other books; it has no source other than the Qur'an; it has no master other than the Qur'an; it has no authority other than the Qur’an. Its author had no other book with him when it was written. It was directly inspired by the effulgence of the Qur'an, and descended and was revealed from the skies of the Qur'an and the stars of its verses."'
The Risale-i Nur is a commentary (tefsir) on the Qur'an that expounds it not according to the order of the verses and the immediate causes for its revelation, but explains those verses which concern the truths of belief. For commentaries on the Qur'an are of various sorts. As the Pre-Etemal Word of God, the Qur’an addresses all people of every age; it has a face that looks to each century and age, and speaks according to the conditions and needs peculiar to each. The Risale-i Nur expounds that face which looks to the modem age, and by virtue of its source possesses certain characteristics which uniquely qualify it to address contemporary man and his needs.
Firstly, it is almost entirely concerned with expounding the truths of belief, as opposed to verses concerning social and `fiqh' or ‘Shari’ matters; it explains and proves `the pillars of faith', like the existence and Unity of God, the Resurrection of the Dead, the Hereafter, and Prophethood, together with such questions as the true nature of man and the universe. For while in the past these were secure, it was these very bases of faith which were now under attack. The method it employs to do this is reasoned argument and logical proof - since they had been attacked in the name of reason, and also in the manner of the Qur'an, through the use of comparison and allegory. That is to say, the Risale-i Nur answers the attacks made on the Qur'an and belief in the name of science and Western philosophy and civilization, and through comparisons of the two demonstrates the rationality of belief and logical absurdity of materialist philosophy, and that man's happiness and salvation lie only in the former.