MUHARREM NUREDDİN COŞAN

Muharrem Nureddin Coşan was born on 2 June 1963 (10 Muharram 1383 in the Hijri calendar). His father was Mahmud Es’ad Coşan Hocaefendi.

His father’s side of the family hailed from Bukhara in modern Uzbekistan, and his mother’s from the Caucasus. It was his grandfather Mehmed Zahid Kotku who named him “Muharrem Nureddin,” with his first name standing for the month in which he was born (Muharram, the first month of the Islamic calendar).

From an early age M. Nureddin Coşan had the opportunity to join his grandfather on his travels, during which he would meet with different groups of people to discuss religion and other matters. The chance to share in these intimate occasions allowed M. Nureddin Coşan to witness a variety of different environments, events, and perspectives, to observe many different segments of society, and to learn about the affairs of Turkey and the world.

He attended Ankara İmam-Hatip High School, a state religious school, and graduated from there in 1981. He studied Arabic at the Arabic Linguistics Institute of King Fahd University in Saudi Arabia. After completing his education in Saudi Arabia he went to the United States, where he obtained a degree in management from the College of Saint Rose in New York.

After his return to Turkey, he initially embarked on a career in business. At the request of his father, however, he eventually ended his own business ventures in order to manage a number of social and economic organizations of the Sufi group. Through his efforts, these organizations were restructured and established on a more solid footing than they had enjoyed previously.

His father M. Es’ad Coşan died in a suspicious automobile accident in Australia on 4 February 2001. In his will, he had specified that he wished his son to take over his duties and responsibilities, as well as the oversight of a number of projects in which he had been involved. M. Nureddin Coşan did so, establishing a number of charitable foundations both in Turkey and abroad and expanding efforts in the charitable and social service fields.

For M. Nureddin Coşan, being of service to humanity and all other living beings is an inseparable part of the Islamic faith, as is carrying this service out in a spirit of love. In an effort to actualize this vision, M. Nureddin Coşan has established a number of new projects. While innovative and forward-thinking, these projects at the same time avail themselves fully of the resources and experience of the past, remaining devoted to the fundamental sources of Islam in spirit and to principles appropriate to the human condition in application. Thus, M. Nureddin Coşan has taken up the banner, bequeathed to him by his father, of spreading the values of the monotheistic Islamic message to the furthest reaches of the globe in a manner in keeping with the conditions of the modern world.

In his work bringing to life the ideas and vision of his father, M. Nureddin Coşan emphasizes the importance of placing one’s priorities in their proper order. He stresses the need for people to educate themselves on the basis of the Qur’an, the Sunnah, and other sound sources; to ensure that their diet is halal, healthy, and natural; to think critically beyond what is superficially apparent; to create and engage in projects aiming at improving life, society, and the world; and to commit themselves in every moment of their lives to the quest for truth and divine grace.

M. Nureddin Coşan married his wife in 1988. He has two children and one grandchild. He speaks Arabic and English, in addition to his native Turkish.