Islam in Modern Turkey

Sukran Vahide

Description

Islam in Modern Turkey presents one of the most comprehensive studies in English of the seminal Turkish thinker and theologian, Bediuzzaman Said Nursi (1876–1960). A devout Muslim who strongly believed in peacefully coexisting with the West, Nursi inspired a faith movement that has played a vital role in the revival of Islam in Turkey and now numbers several million followers worldwide. While Nursi's ideas have been afforded considerable analysis, this book is the first to situate these ideas and his related activities in their historical contexts. Based on the available sources and Nursi's own works, here is a complete and balanced view of this important theologian's life and thought.

Author’s Note on the Sources
Note on Spelling and Punctuation
Maps

Introduction by Ibrahim M. Abu-Rabi‘

Part I. The Old Said

1. Childhood and Youth

2. Istanbul

3. Bediuzzaman and the Thirty-first of March Incident

4. The Future Shall be Islam’s

5. The Medresetü’z-Zehra

6. War and Captivity

7. The Armistice Years (1): Appointment to the Darü’l-Hikmeti’l-Islamiye and Opposition to the British

8. The Armistice Years (2): The Birth of the New Said, and Departure for Ankara

Part II. The New Said

9. Van

10. Barla

11. Eskis*ehir

12. Kastamonu

13. Denizli

14. Emirdag

15. Afyon

Part III. The Third Said

16. Consolidation of the Nur Movement and “Jihad of the Word”

17. The Last Months

Conclusion
Notes
Bibliography
Index

Sujets

• Islam
• History of religions
• Theology

Informations

• Publié par: State University of New York Press
• Date de parution: 16 février 2012
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780791482971
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 2 Mo

Extrait

I S L A M I N
M O D E R N
T U R K E Y*
I S L A M I N
M O D E R N
T U R K E Y
An Intellectual Biography
of Bediuzzaman Said Nursi
Sükran Vahide
Edited and with an introduction by
Ibrahim M. Abu-Rabi‘
State University of New York Press*
*
Published by
State University of New York Press, Albany
© 2005 State University of New York
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without
written permission. No part of this book may be stored in a retrieval system or
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tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior permission
in writing of the publisher.
For information, address State University of New York Press,
194 Washington Avenue, Suite 305, Albany, NY 12210–2384
Production by Diane Ganeles
Marketing by Michael Campochiaro
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Sükran Vahide.
Islam in modern Turkey : an intellectual biography of Bediuzzaman Said Nursi / Sükran
Vahide ; edited and with an introduction by Ibrahim M. Abu-Rabi.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-7914-6515-2 (hardcover : alk. paper) — ISBN 0-7914-6516-0 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Nursî, Said, 1873–1960. 2. Islam—Turkey. 3. Islam and politics—Turkey. 4.
Turkey—Politics and government—1980– 5. Scholars, Muslim—Turkey—Biography. I.
AbuRabi‘, Ibrahim M. II. Title.
BP253.Z8N877 2005
297.8'3—dc22
2004027307
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1\
Contents
Author’s Note on the Sources vii
Note on Spelling and Punctuation ix
Maps x
Introduction by Ibrahim M. Abu-Rabi‘ xiii
Part I. The Old Said
1. Childhood and Youth 3
2. Istanbul 33
3. Bediuzzaman and the Thirty-first of March Incident 65
4. The Future Shall be Islam’s 83
5. The Medresetü’z-Zehra 101
6. War and Captivity 111
7. The Armistice Years (1): Appointment to the
Darü’l-Hikmeti’l-ÿslamiye, and Opposition to the British 131
8. The Armistice Years (2): The Birth of the New Said,
and Departure for Ankara 157
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vi Islam in Modern Turkey
Part II. The New Said
9. Van 177
10. Barla 189
11. Eskisehir 215
12. Kastamonu 227
13. Denizli 257
14. Emirdag 271
15. Afyon 285
Part III. The Third Said
16. Consolidation of the Nur Movement and “Jihad of the Word” 305
17. The Last Months 333
Conclusion 349
Notes 353
Bibliography 403
Index 415*
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Author’s Note on the Sources
The main source for Bediuzzaman Said Nursi’s life is the biography compiled
in his last years by some of his students. Apart from the first section on his
early life, the greater part of this substantial work consists of lengthy extracts
from Nursi’s own works and letters, with only short introductions to each
section that give the briefest facts about Nursi himself. The reason for this
unusual method of biographical writing is that Nursi wanted importance to be
given not to his person, but to the Risale-i Nur, his magnum opus written in
the second main period of his life, that of the “New Said.” He therefore did
not supply his students with details, and even instructed them to remove
passages he considered to be extraneous.
The section on the first period of Nursi’s life, that of the “Old Said,” is
an abridged version of the biography published by his nephew Abdurrahman
in 1919, with the addition of excerpts from his works of the time.
Abdurrahman’s thirty-nine-page biography, prepared under his uncle’s supervision,
appears to be an expanded version of a nine-page summary of Nursi’s life,
written by his student Hamza and included as an addendum to his wartime
Qur’anic commentary, Isharat al-I‘jaz, published in 1918. Together with
containing many interesting details, the main purpose of both these works is to
describe the Young Said’s remarkable scholarly career and his feats of
learning during his early years.
For the above reasons there remain many lacunae and obscurities in
Nursi’s early life. These tantalizing gaps in his story have to a small extent
been filled by documents unearthed in recent years among what remains of
the Ottoman state archives, and from private sources. These finds have also
corroborated what was known of his activities. Further research may well fill
in more of the picture.
The considerable body of recollections, anecdotes, and memoirs
collected by the biographer Necmeddin Sahiner over many years forms the other
main source for his life. These he obtained through his indefatigable tracking
down and interviewing of hundreds of people who met or knew Nursi;
necessarily they relate mostly to the New Said period. Additional to the volumes
these constitute are his biography, which has run to numerous editions, and
the published results of his other research. Sahiner’s invaluable work was
augmented in 1990 by the publication of the three-volume biography, also in
viiviii Islam in Modern Turkey
Turkish, by Abdülkadir Badıllı, a student of Nursi, which both draws on the
above sources and includes original material.
The Republican period presents different problems for the researcher,
for the police, court, and state records are not open to public scrutiny.
Moreover, since all opposition was suppressed during the single party era
(1925–46), the press was to a large extent an instrument of government
propaganda and cannot be relied on for its reporting of events that smacked of
opposition. Much reporting about Nursi and his students can be described
only as libelous.
Nursi’s own works form another important source, close study of which
has produced facts that have escaped the attention of previous biographers.
Considerable space has been given to analysis of Nursi’s ideas, and the
attempt has been made to situate these and his related activities in their
historical contexts. Thus, despite the unavailability of source material in some
fields, it is hoped that the reader will gain a complete view of Nursi’s life and
thought.¨
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Note on Spelling and Pronunciation
With the exception of Turkish words in common use in English, such as pasha
(T. pasa) and shaikh (T. seyh), all Turkish names, titles, and words are written
according to the modern Turkish system. The following are the equivalent
sounds in English or French:
c—j, as in jot.
ç—ch, as in chop.
s—sh, as in shop.
g—unpronounced, lengthens preceding vowel.
ı—no equivalent, approximately as in io of nation.
ö—as in French peu.
ü—as in French rue.
Said (Nursi)—is pronounced Sa’eed.
The Anglicized spelling of Bediuzzaman (T. Bediüzzaman) has been used
throughout.
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Introduction
Ibrahim M. Abu-Rabi‘
Sükran Vahide’s biography of Ustadh Bediuzzaman Said Nursi may well
become a classic in the field of modern Islamic Studies and Comparative
Theology. In this work, the author traces Nursi’s life and thought from his birth
and childhood in the eastern part of Turkey until his death in 1960. Vahide’s
command of the original sources is beyond reproach, and her understanding
of the modern religious and intellectual history of modern Turkey is
unrivaled. As she ably shows in this book, Nursi was one of the most brilliant
Islamic thinkers in the modern era, a man who consistently fought for his
ideals by keeping Islam a dynamic religion in the modern world. Although
some scholars overlook Nursi in their discussions of modern Islamic
intellectual history, his impact on whole generations of religious Turkish
intelligentsia in the post-Republican era has in fact been considerable. Since his
death in 1960, Nursi’s followers have taken up the challenge of disseminating
his ideas throughout the world.
There exists a considerable amount of material in Western languages on
Jamal al-Dên al-Afghanê, Sir Ahmad Khan, Muhammad ‘Abduh, Rashêd Rida,
Muhammad Iqbal, and other leading intellectuals in the Muslim world. It is
high time that Nursi, too, be included among these figures, and be seen as one
of the most important of them. Vahide’s study aptly demonstrates why he
deserves such a position in modern Islamic thought and practice.
As Vahide shows in detail in the first section of this book, we must
consider Nursi’s educational and religious formation in the context of the
nineteenth century Ottoman intellectual tradition, which was subject to a variety of
intellectual and ideological forces and currents. Our understanding of Nursi’s
formative period must be anchored in such classical Islamic sciences as
Qur’anic exegesis, tradition, kalam, and mysticism, especially as the Ottoman
intelligentsia dev