Deaths on March 23

Said Nursî, Kurdish theologian and scholar (b. 1878)

Said Nursi (Ottoman Turkish: سعيد نورسی, Kurdish: Seîdê Nursî ,سەعید نوورسی‎; 1877 – 23 March 1960), also spelled Said-i Nursî or Said-i Kurdî and commonly known with the honorific Bediüzzaman (meaning "wonder of the age"), or simply Üstad (meaning "master") was a Kurdish Sunni Muslim theologian who wrote the Risale-i Nur Collection, a body of Qur'anic commentary exceeding six thousand pages. Believing that modern science and logic was the way of the future, he advocated teaching religious sciences in secular schools and modern sciences in religious schools.Nursi inspired a religious movement that has played a vital role in the revival of Islam in Turkey and now numbers several millions of followers worldwide. His followers, often known as the "Nurcu movement" or the "Nur cemaati". In a 2008 publication Nurcu worldwide adherents were estimated at 5 to 6 millions with numbers going up to 9 millions, with around 5500 dershanes or study halls where adherents would read Nursi’s writings collectively.He was able to recite many books from memory. For instance: "So then he [Molla Fethullah] decided to test his memory and handed him a copy of the work by Al-Hariri of Basra (1054–1122) — also famous for his intelligence and power of memory — called Maqamat al-Hariri. Said read one page once, memorized it, then repeated it by heart. Molla Fethullah expressed his amazement."