Bediuzzaman Said Nursi on Interreligious Dialogue as A Path to Social Renewal Amidst Turkey’s Secularization (1920-1949)
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.24252/jad.v25i1a8Keywords:
Interreligious Dialogue, Bediuzzaman Said Nursi, Religions, Secularization, ModernityAbstract
This study explores Said Nursi’s thoughts on interreligious dialogue as articulated in his monumental work, Risale-i Nur, within the socio-political context of Turkey in the 1920s, a period marked by the transition from the Ottoman Caliphate to the secular Republic. Amid tensions between Western modernization and Islamic tradition, Nursi developed a theological and socio-political thoughts that underscored the necessity of interreligious dialogue for the sake of peace, moral integrity, and mutual progress. In particular, The Words and The Letters, sections within Risale-I Nur, reveal Nursi’s understanding that interreligious dialogue arises from a faith-based commitment to truth, compassion, and justice. Nursi argues that ethical solidarity among the Abrahamic faiths, Islam, Christianity, and Judaism, constitutes a share responsibility before humanity and God. Exploration on interreligious dialogue within historical contexts of Turkey, provides an important contribution to finding a model of interfaith dialogue that resists secularist assumptions and remains profoundly relevant to the pursuit of religious harmony in today’s pluralistic world.
الملخص
تتناول هذه الورقة البحثية أفكار سعيد النورسي حول الحوار بين الأديان، كما عبّر عنها في عمله الرائد "رسائل النور"، وذلك في السياق الاجتماعي والسياسي لتركيا في عشرينيات القرن الماضي، وهي فترة اتسمت بالانتقال من الخلافة العثمانية إلى الجمهورية العلمانية. في خضمّ التوتر بين التحديث الغربي والتقاليد الإسلامية، طوّر النورسي فكرًا لاهوتيًا واجتماعيًا وسياسيًا أكّد على ضرورة الحوار بين الأديان من أجل السلام والنزاهة الأخلاقية والتقدم المشترك. ويكشف كتابا "الكلمات والحروف"، وهما جزء من "رسائل النور"، عن فهم النورسي بأن الحوار بين الأديان ينبع من التزام إيماني بالحق والرحمة والعدالة. وجادل النورسي بأن التضامن الأخلاقي بين الديانات الإبراهيمية - الإسلام والمسيحية واليهودية - مسؤولية مشتركة أمام البشرية والله. إن استكشاف الحوار بين الأديان في سياق التاريخ التركي يساهم بشكل مهم في إيجاد نموذج للحوار بين الأديان يرفض الافتراضات العلمانية ويظل وثيق الصلة بالسعي إلى تحقيق الانسجام الديني في المجتمع التعددي اليوم.
Abstrak
Penelitian ini mengkaji pemikiran Said Nursi tentang dialog antaragama sebagaimana disampaikan dalam karya monumentalnya, Risale-i Nur, dalam konteks sosial-politik Turki pada tahun 1920-an, periode yang ditandai oleh transisi dari Kekhalifahan Ottoman ke Republik sekuler. Di tengah ketegangan antara modernisasi Barat dan tradisi Islam, Nursi mengembangkan pemikiran teologis dan sosial-politik yang menggarisbawahi perlunya dialog antaragama demi perdamaian, integritas moral, dan kemajuan bersama. Secara khusus, The Words and The Letters, bagian dalam Risale-i Nur, mengungkapkan pemahaman Nursi bahwa dialog antaragama muncul dari komitmen iman terhadap kebenaran, kasih sayang, dan keadilan. Nursi berpendapat bahwa solidaritas etis di antara agama-agama Abrahamik—Islam, Kristen, dan Yahudi—merupakan tanggung jawab bersama di hadapan manusia dan Tuhan. Eksplorasi dialog antaragama dalam konteks sejarah Turki memberikan kontribusi penting untuk menemukan model dialog antaragama yang menolak asumsi sekuler dan tetap relevan secara mendalam terhadap upaya mencapai kerukunan umat beragama di masyarakat plural sekarang ini.
Downloads
References
Abu-Rabi, Ibrahim M. (ed.). Spiritual Dimensions of Bediuzzaman Said Nursi’s Risale-i Nur. New York: State University of New York Press, 2008.
Atabongwoung, Gallous, Johannes M. Lütz, and Denise A. Austin. "Invigorating Interfaith Consciousness for the Common Good: Reimagining the Role of African Religion and Pentecostalism in Contemporary South Africa." Religions, 14.4 (2023): 1-18 at https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14040486.
Balci, Tamer. “Islam and Democracy in the Thought of Nursi and Gülen.” In The Gülen Hizmet Movement: Circumspect Activism in Faith-Based Reform, edited by Tamer Balci and Christopher L. Miller, 61-90. New Castle: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2012.
Berghout, Abdelaziz. “Nursi’s Vision for a New Universal Culture of Dialogue.” In Spiritual Dimensions of Bediuzzaman Said Nursi’s Risale-i Nur, edited by Ibrahim M. Abu-Rabi, 231-258. New York: State University of New York Press, 2008.
Bruinessen, Martin van. Agha, Shaikh and State: Social and Political Structures of Kurdistan. London: Zed books, 1992.
Calhoun, Craig (ed.). Habermas and the Public Sphere. Cambridge: MIT Press, 1993.
Calhoun, Craig. “Introduction: Habermas and the Public Sphere.” In Habermas and the Public Sphere, edited by Craig Calhoun, 1-48. Cambridge: MIT Press, 1993.
Catalano, R. “Is Interreligious Dialogue Changing the Church? The Significance of the Document on Human Fraternity.” In Changing the Church: Pathways for Ecumenical and Interreligious Dialogue, edited by Mark D. Chapman, Vladimir Latinovic, 209-215. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2021.
Chia, Edmund Kee-Fook (ed.). Interfaith Dialogue: Global Perspectives. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2016.
Cornille, Catherine (ed.). The Wiley-Blackwell Companion to Inter-religious Dialogue. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell, 2013.
Dangor, Suleman Essop. "Said Nursi’s Approach to Interfaith Dialogue." Alternation Special Edition, 3 (2009): 270-300.
Findley, Carter Vaughn. “The Tanzimat.” In Cambridge History of Turkey: Turkey in the Modern World Vol. 4, edited by Resat Kasaba, 11-37. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008.
Francis, Pope and Muhammad al-Tayyeb. Document on Human Fraternity and World Peace, 4 February 2019 at (http://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/travels/2019/outside/documents/papa-francesco_20190204_documento-fratellanza-umana.html).
González, J.F. Lozano and P.J. Pérez. “Beyond the Conflict: Religion in the Public Sphere and Deliberative Democracy.” Res Publica, 15.8 (2009): 251–267 at https://doi.org/10.1007/s11158-009-9093-3.
Habermas, Jürgen. “Religion in the Public Sphere.” European Journal of Philosophy 14.1 (2006): 1–25.
Habermas, Jurgen. The Theory of Communicative Action. Boston: Beacon Press, 1983.
Hakan, Yavuz, M. "Islam in the Public Sphere: the Case of the Nur Movement." In Turkish Islam and the Secular State: The Gulen Movement, edited by M. Hakan Yavuz and John L. Esposito, 1-18. New York: Syracuse University Press, 2003.
Haynes, Jeffrey. "The United Nations Alliance of Civilizations and Interfaith Dialogue: What Is It Good For?." The Review of Faith & International Affairs, 16.3 (2018): 48-60, at doi: 10.1080/15570274.2018.1509281.
Julianto, Irwan, Rekson Silaban, Haryatmoko, et.al. Cendekiawan dan Pandemi Covid 19: Kronik Opini Pilihan Kompas 3. Jakarta: Penerbit Buku Kompas, 2023.
Latinovic, Vladimir, Gerard Mannion, and Peter C. Phan (eds.). Pathways for Inter-Religious Dialogue in the Twenty-First Century. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2016.
Lefebure, Leo D. "Roman Catholic Theological Engagement with Said Nursi." In The Companion to Said Nursi Studies, edited by Ian S. Markham dan Zeyneb Sayilgan, 356-377. Oregon: Pickwick, 2017.
Lefebure, Leo D. "Wisdom, Prophecy, and the Guidance of Humanity: Pope John XXIII and Bediuzzaman Said Nursi." Australian Journal of Islamic Studies, 2.2 (2017): 42-61.
Lefebure, Leo D. (ed.). Religion, Authority, and the State: From Constantine to the Contemporary World. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2016.
Mah, Harold. "Phantasies of the Public Sphere: Rethinking the Habermas of Historians." The Journal of Modern History, 72.1 (2000), 153-182.
Mardin, Serif. Religion and Social Change in Modern Turkey: The Case of Bediüzzaman Said Nursi. New York: State University of New York Press, 1989.
Mardin, Serif. Religion, Society, and Modernity in Turkey. New York: Syracuse University Press, 2006.
Markham, Ian and Suendam Birinci Pirim. An Introduction to Said Nursi: Life, Thought and Writings. Farnham: Ashgate, 2011.
Michel, Thomas. "The Risale-i Nur: An Islamic Alternative to the Islamic State.” Hawwa, 13.2 (2015): 184-197.
Michel, Thomas. “Muslim-Christian Dialogue and Cooperation in the Thought of Bediuzzaman Said Nursi”, available in Muslim Christian Dialogue and Cooperation - Risale-i Nur accessed in November 1, 2024.
Mohammad, Qaisar. "A Brief Sketch of the Memoirs of the Life and Works of Bediuzzaman Said Nursi." Analisa: Journal of Social Science and Religion, 3.2 (2018): 207-219.
Mohammad, Qaisar. "Clarifications on the Works of Bediuzzaman Said Nursi." American International Journal of Research in Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences, 13.2 (2015): 136-138.
Nursi, Bediuzzaman Said. The Words: On the Nature and Purposes of Man, Life, and All Things, trans. Sukran Vehide. Ankara: Ihlas Nur Nesriyat, 2002.
———. The Letters, trans. Sukran Vehide. Istanbul: Sözler Publications, 2007.
———. The Flashes, trans. Sukran Vehide. Istanbul: Sözler Publications, 2007.
———. The Rays, trans. Sukran Vehide. Istanbul: Sözler Publications, 2007.
———. The Short Words, trans. Sukran Vehide. Istanbul: Sözler Publications, 2007.
Özervarli, M. Sait. “The Reconstruction of Islamic Social Thought in the Modern Period: Nursi’s Approach to Religious Discourse in a Changing Society.” Asian Journal of Social Science, 38.1 (2010): 532–553.
Patrick, G. “Pope Francis, Culture of Encounter, the Common Good, and Dharma: Public Theological Conversations Today.” Theological Studies, 84.2 (2023): 212–228 at https://doi.org/10.1177/00405639231171730.
Samhadi, Sri Hartati, dkk. Cendekiawan dan Pandemi Covid 19: Kronik Opini Pilihan Kompas 1. Jakarta: Penerbit Buku Kompas, 2021.
Setyawan, Heri. “Redefining the Role of Religion in Contemporary Society: Pope Francis and Sheikh Ahmad Muhammad al-Tayyeb.” JSW (Jurnal Sosiologi Walisongo), 3.2 (2019): 111-124, at: <https://journal.walisongo.ac.id/index.php/JSW/article/view/4023>, doi:https://doi.org/10.21580/jsw.2019.3.2.4023.
Sofjan, Dicky and Muhammad Wildan (ed.). Virus, Manusia, Tuhan: Refleksi Lintas Iman tentang Covid-19. Jakarta: Kepustakaan Populer Gramedia, 2020.
Thompson, John B. "The Theory of the Public Sphere." Theory, Culture & Society, 10.3 (1993): 173-189.
Twiss, Summer B. and Bruce Grelle (eds.). Explorations in Global Ethics: Comparative Religious Ethics and Interreligious Dialogue. New York: Routledge, 2018.
Vahide, Sukran. "Bediuzzaman Said Nursi’s Approach to Religious Renewal and Its Impact on Aspects of Contemporary Turkish Society." In The Blackwell Companion to Contemporary Islamic Thought, edited by Ibrahim Abu-Rabi, 55-74. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 2008.
Vahide, Sukran. Bediüzzaman Said Nursi: The Author of the Risale-i Nur. Istanbul: Istabul Ofset Basim, 1992.
Vahide, Sukran. Islam in Modern Turkey: An Intellectual Biography of Bediuzzaman Said Nursi; edited and with an introduction by Ibrahim M. Abu-Rabi. New York: State University of New York Press, 2005.
Varol, Fatih. Religious Freedom as a Practice of the Nation: Religious Minorities, Islamic Revival, and the Emergence of Defensive Inclusion in Turkey. Illinois : University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2015.
Widianarko, Budi, Nirwan Ahmad Arsuka, Budi Karya, et.al. Cendekiawan dan Pandemi Covid 19: Kronik Opini Pilihan Kompas 2. Jakarta: Penerbit Buku Kompas, 2023.
Yavuz, M. Hakan. "Islam in the Public Sphere: The Case of the Nur Movement." In Turkish Islam and the Secular State: The Gulen Movement, edited by M. Hakan Yavuz and John L. Esposito, 1-18. New York: Syracuse University Press, 2003.
Yavuz, M. Hakan. Islamic Political Identity in Turkey. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Heri Setyawan
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
COPYRIGHT AND LICENSE STATEMENT
COPYRIGHT
Jurnal Adabiyah is published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution license. Authors hold the copyright and retain publishing rights without restriction to their work. Users may read, download, copy, distribute, and print the work in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
LICENSE TO PUBLISH
1. License
The use of the article will be governed by the Creative Commons Attribution license as currently displayed on http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0.
2. Author’s Warranties
The author warrants that the article is original, written by stated author/s, has not been published before, contains no unlawful statements, does not infringe the rights of others, is subject to copyright that is vested exclusively in the author and free of any third party rights, and that any necessary written permissions to quote from other sources have been obtained by the author(s).
3. User Rights
Under the Creative Commons Attribution license, the users are free to download, reuse, reprint, modify, distribute and/or copy the content for any purpose, even commercially, as long as the original authors and source are cited. No permission is required from the authors or the publishers.
4. Co-Authorship
If the article was prepared jointly with other authors, the corresponding author warrants that he/she has been authorized by all co-authors, and agrees to inform his/her co-authors of the terms of this statement.
5. Miscellaneous
Jurnal Adabiyah may conform the article to a style of punctuation, spelling, capitalization, and usage that it deems appropriate. The author acknowledges that the article may be published so that it will be publicly accessible and such access will be free of charge for the readers.
