Islam, October 1994

RUN TO SAVE THE COUNTRY

Halil Necatioğlu

Education is a long and arduous task, yet it is an important and necessary field of activity. It takes years to obtain the results and benefits of education, yet they last hundreds of years. This makes it a very rewarding and valuable activity. There is no doubt that only the well-educated will save the religion, the nation, the ummah, and the generations, improve the state and raise the status.

For this reason, we pay utmost attention to all forms of education. We publish books and periodicals, broadcast radio and television programs. We organize preaches, seminars and conferences and set up cultural associations, foundations and corporations. We have activities in all directions.

Abdulaziz Bekkine, one of our late teachers, had instructed his young deciples to pursue a higher education degree and become professors at the universities despite the economical hardship and other difficulties at the start. His successor, our late dear and beloved teacher and master Mehmed Zahid Kotku, had directed these educated people to the industry, government, social and political services. This way, our tekke has produced many well educated and valuable people in all fields providing excellent services to this ummah.

We follow in our masters' footsteps; everyday a new link is added to the golden chain of services. Our dear, trustworthy and knowledgeable brethren have undertaken the most effective and leading charitable works in Turkey. May Allah increase their efforts and strength, protect them, provide them success and happiness in this world an in the hereafter.

We bring this up to inform our other brethren of these activities and have them join the service. They should not stay idle and inactive, loose and lazy, piecemeal and confused. We invite them to be active. Our purpose is not to praise ourselves or to boast but to direct our brethren and to present examples.

On September 28, 1994 we were in Konya as invited guests. With the presence of the Governor Mr. Atilla Vural, mayors and other top government officials and personages, we have inaugurated a private elementary school. It was a beautiful and memorable event participated by many people. The school was the very fine work and one of the activities of our brethren in Konya.

In the same week, preparation work and formalities have been completed for the Asiller Kız Lisesi in Yalova. Permission was granted to initiate the education at this private girls' high-school. We are very pleased for that. Asiller Kız Lisesi is an excellent institution located in the middle of a clean and green region full of fresh air and sweet fruits. It has a four-storey building with three wings. It has a large yard and a dormitory. It was intended for the daughters of our brethren in Europe and Australia to come to Turkey and pursue a quality education which is gratifying not only for this wold but also for the hereafter. For the reasons beyond our control, the permission had been delayed.

I have a request from you and from the administrators of the foundations such as Hakyol and İlksav in all towns and cities: Please find female students for this excellent boarding school. Let your relatives and friends know about this school. Time is very limited; October 15 is the deadline! For the time being, we have started the English prep school only. We want the quality of education high and homogeneous. I would like to see a high demand for this high school and at least three or five prep classes opened. Each class will have 25 students, and each student will be given a quality education that is fortified spiritually. This is a very important request and must be followed seriously, for this will be a school to help us raise the most noble, the most knowledgeable, the best mannered, the most brilliant daughters who will be the queens of our hearts, insha-Allah. (Those who do not have daughters can assume the expenses of a student.)

We have activities to set up private schools in many towns and cities in the country. They could not make it to the academic year this time; however, they will be ready next year, insha-Allah. I believe that potential students and parents must be reached as early as the beginning of 1995 so that the schools will provide service with full capacity. We must visit our brethren living abroad and inform them about the schools. Each and every one of us must do his best in introducing our new schools in his neighborhood and to his relatives.

For the betterment of our state, we must work as teams and groups, get closer, increase our efforts and consciousness, and organize our activities with vision. The success and the rewards depend on that work.

While our opponents in the country and abroad are working very hard, it is not befitting for a Muslim to stay idle and lazy. We must work zealously and eagerly, abandon laziness, empty talks, amazement and confusion, take necessary precautions, and produce tangible and long lasting works.

"The mirror of a person is his work, not his words."

"Do not talk "big" or much; man must be at work."

"O brave men, run to help the nation."