Powered by OpenAIRE graph
Found an issue? Give us feedback
addClaim

The Sufi Influence in Said Nursi's Life and Thought

The Sufi Influence in Said Nursi's Life and Thought

Abstract

Said Nursi (1878-1960) was the most influential Muslim scholar, intellectual, and activist in the history of modern Turkey. His ideas and activities greatly contributed to the resurgence of Islam in the country. In fact, his influence had a global reach as a result of the initiatives of the grassroots movement he founded. The existing literature on Nursi usually dealt with his contributions to the interfaith dialogue. Few researchers paid attention to Nursi’s relationship with Sufism. They generally suggested that Nursi was not a Sufi while having some sympathy for it. However, they did not examine his works to detect possible Sufi ideas in Nursi’s thought. In my research, I analyze Nursi’s life and thought in the context of larger Sufi tradition. I trace the Sufi influences in his magnum opus, the Risale, about his view of Allah, the cosmos, and humanity. In my search for Sufi worldview in Nursi’s books, I primarily rely on the central Sufi concepts of tashbīh, tanzīh, karâmât, dhikr, sohbet, and service and try to demonstrate that Sufism had a considerable influence on him during the second part of his life which he spent in seclusion. I also show that his understanding and application of these concepts differed from traditional Sufi groups. He presented the Sufi thought and practices in a way that was relevant to his primarily Turkish readers. Hence, I attempt to portray Nursi as an intellectual who rearticulated traditional Sufi thought for his modern audience. I argue that Nursi reflected both popular and intellectual aspects of that tradition in his writings.

Keywords

Religion

  • BIP!
    Impact byBIP!
    selected citations
    These citations are derived from selected sources.
    This is an alternative to the "Influence" indicator, which also reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically).
    0
    popularity
    This indicator reflects the "current" impact/attention (the "hype") of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network.
    Average
    influence
    This indicator reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically).
    Average
    impulse
    This indicator reflects the initial momentum of an article directly after its publication, based on the underlying citation network.
    Average
Powered by OpenAIRE graph
Found an issue? Give us feedback
selected citations
These citations are derived from selected sources.
This is an alternative to the "Influence" indicator, which also reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically).
BIP!Citations provided by BIP!
popularity
This indicator reflects the "current" impact/attention (the "hype") of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network.
BIP!Popularity provided by BIP!
influence
This indicator reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically).
BIP!Influence provided by BIP!
impulse
This indicator reflects the initial momentum of an article directly after its publication, based on the underlying citation network.
BIP!Impulse provided by BIP!
0
Average
Average
Average
Upload OA version
Are you the author of this publication? Upload your Open Access version to Zenodo!
It’s fast and easy, just two clicks!