1

Engaging Bamyehs Hermeneutic Islam thesis in Said Nursis Risale-i

Nur:
Islam as Object of Knowledge.
(by Vinken Geovannissa)
How modern muslim intellectuals respond to the secular era of nationstates and nationalism in which Islam does not have comprehensive
authority to regulate every aspects of human life, if not to say Islam is
relatively marginal? Mohammed Bamyeh in his work, Hermeneutics against
Instrumental Reason: national and post-national Islam in the 20 th century,
engaged with this question. Bamyeh hypothesized two frameworks of Islamic
modernists in dealing with secularism: Instrumental Islam and Hermeneutic
Islam. I am particularly interested in Hermeneutic Islam which Bamyeh
described as a combination between Islamic hermeneutics, sufi tradition and
modern science which aims to place Islam as object of knowledge and
contemplation to understand the universal spirit of Islamic teachings.
Different from Instrumental Islam whose movement closely intertwined with
politics and cultural projects which exemplified by The Muslim Brotherhood
and Islamic reformists such as Al-Afghani and Rashid Rida, Hermeneutic
Islam was illustrated by Bamyeh with figure like Bediuzzaman Said Nursi who
are anti-political and employed himself in organizing Islamic knowledge
(Bamyeh, 2008).
In this paper, I will explore the exposition of Islam as object of
knowledge in the Risale-i Nur (henceforth referred to as the Risale), a
magnum opus by Bediuzzaman Said Nursi, to see how the Risale fits within a
hermeneutic Islam framework by Bamyeh and in what ways Said Nursi
placed Islam as object of knowledge. There are also set of questions that I
will attempt to answer in my paper: What is the main goal that Said Nursi
wanted to achieve through the Risale? What are important features of the
Risale that resonates the hermeneutic Islam thesis by Bamyeh? Does Said

Nursi fit well (and exclusively) in the framework of Hermeneutic Islam by

Bamyeh? Did Nursi respond to the challenge of materialism and secularism
in his time? How have the Risale contributed to Islam revitalization in Turkey?
What is the usefulness of Bamyehs Hermeneutic-Instrumental Islam theory
to study modern Islamic intellectual discourse?

Said Nursi and the Risale-i Nur

Said Nursi (1877-1960) is an original thinker and distinguished figure. He
integrates Islamic traditional sciences and modern scientific knowledge in
the body of work known as the Risale-i nur. As a work on Quranic
interpretation, the Risale not only provides elucidation of the truth of Islamic
belief but also persuasively refutes and invalidates philosophy of materialism
and naturalism. Said Nursi divided his life into three periods, the Old Said
(1877-1920), the New Said (1920-1950) and the Third Said (1950-1969).
These three periods of his life roughly coincided with Turkey important
history: the final decades of the Ottoman empire, the first twenty-seven
years of the Turkish Republic and the Democrat Party Era (Vahide, 2005, p.
1).
In his youth (what Nursi categorized as Old Said), Nursi was engaged
in the discussion on constitutionalism in the empire and showed his interest
to the idea of reform and Europe democratic values as instruments to save
Ottoman empire from collapse. After the constitutional revolution in 1908,
Nursi gave public speeches promoting freedom and constitutionalism
which he viewed as in compliance with Islamic Sharia (Vahide, 2003). In his
speech entitled Address to Freedom, Nursi articulated the importance of
freedom for the practice of Sharia and the revival of Ottoman empire and
this freedom should also be actualized through Muslim acquaintance with
Western science and technology. Despite his recognition of European
scientific progress, Nursi pointed out that there are some evils and sins

embedded in European civilization that Muslim should abandon. Moreover,

Nursi invoked Muslims to make Japan as a role model, because Japanese are
able to preserve their national cultures and values in their adoption of
European virtues and progress (Abu-Rabi, 2003, p. 74).
Whereas young Nursi preoccupied with enterprise to revitalize the
empire and Islamic world, Nursis transformation to New Said marked his new
trajectory to exclusively expounding the Quran. Before the inauguration of
Turkey Republic, Nursi had transformed from Old Said to New Said. Around
the year 1920-1921, the New Said emerged after Nursi underwent a deep
spiritual transformation as a result of his inner quest. He found afresh
consciousness that Quran should be his sole guidance and he should free
himself from the influence of philosophy (Vahide, 2003). Nursi then withdrew
from public life and devoted himself to expound Islamic principles
encompasses Islamic belief, thought, worship, ethics and way of life through
writing (Nursi B. , 2005).
The immense lesson and knowledge contained in the Risale has
presented us different approaches how intellectuals read the Risale. For
example, Metin Karabaolu has highligted the shortcoming of erif Mardins
approach which placing the Risale within a broad socio-historical context and
thus viewing the Risale as the product of modernizing world into which
Nursi was thrust. The critique of Karabaolu lies on the apparent negligent
of Nursis spiritual foundation when the focus directed at placing muslim in
modernity paradigm. What Karabaolu proposed then is the philosophical
and

theological

approach

which

emphasizes

Nursis

theological

preoccupation with love of God, knowledge of God, human devotion and

sincerity in worship (Karabaolu, 2003).
Having considered Karabaolus point of view, it is also important to
see what erif Mardin have to say about his enterprise. erif Mardin
approached Nursis work from the perspective of sociology of religion. He

borrowed Webers definition of sociology of religion as the study of the form

that the bearers of religion bring to religion. Mardin explained that
analyzing the meaning of divine message (which he exemplified as theology)
and analyzing the composition of divine message by human through reason
of their humanity and their living as communities are two different fields of
knowledge. Mardin exercised the latter and call it as sociology of religion.
Therefore, he inquired the formation of Nursis ideas against the setting of
social and political conditions in Turkey at that time (Mardin, 2003).
Each of these approaches make an important contribution to our
understanding of the Risale. Ibrahim Abu-Rabi argued that in order to better
understand modern Islamic discourse, it is significant to understand the set
of crisis that produced it in the modern period. Nursis writing and career
reflected important historical epochs that delineates the predicament of
Islamic reform in an era of forceful secularization and westernization
invasion. Therefore, Abu-Rabi found erif Mardins method instructive in this
aspect.

Nonetheless,

embodiment
circumstances

of
that

Abu-Rabi

theological
produced

asserted
work
it.

that

which

While

Nursis

deeply

grapple

writing

is

the

embedded

in

the

historical

and

with

philosophical problems, Nursi attempted to construct a new muslim identity

that could meet the challenge of secularism age. The Risale is a theological
treatise that shows the reconstruction of foundation of Islamic thought and
practice in an era where Islam is no longer the dominant forces (Abu-Rabi',
2003).
Now, we might wanna know why Nursi wrote the Risale. Nursi asserts
that the function of the Risale-i Nur was not only striving to reform a private
heart and an individual conscience but also to cure with the medicines of the
miraculous Quran the collective heart and general conscience, which is
facing corruption through the destruction of the foundations of Islam.
Furthermore, Nursi believed that the Risale, which emerged from the Quran,

is important base for advancement and progress (Vahide, 2005, p. 232).

Despite the strong prohibition by the government for the publication of
writings on Islam, the influence and dissemination of the Risale are
unstoppable. The treatises of the Risale are duplicated by literally a thousand
pens and it was said that the number of handwritten copies of various parts
of the Risale is six hundred thousand. Many people, men and women, from
different age and profession took part in this movement. Other than strong
Quranic

message,

the

absolute

sincerity

and

humility

that

Nursi

demonstrates also adding the value of the Risale. This extraordinary

movement shows how the Risale contributed to maintain and renew the
Islamic faith against the attempt to exterminate Islamic traditional culture
from society. The Risale has also helped the preservation of Quranic script
and Arabic language in Turkey (Vahide, 2005, p. 205).
The Risale-i Nur: Islam as object of knowledge
This part of paper will highlight the important features of the Risale that will
help us assessing the place of Islam as object of knowledge. These features
include the universality of the Risale and the unique methods that Said Nursi
employed in his writing. This will be followed by Nursis attitude toward
politics and materialism. I will show three of Nursis method in the Risale:
analogy, reflective thought, and significative meaning. Then, I will explore his
anti-political stance and his respond to materialism and secularism.
Analogy
One distinctive characteristic of the Risale is the use of analogy in the form
of

allegorical

comparisons

(kiyas-i

temsil)

together

with

scientific

knowledge to provide a compelling proof and valid truth (Vahide, 2003). For
instance, in discussing the resurrection of humanity on the Day of
Judgement, Nursi using analogy of the very laws of nature:

There are thousands of suitable analogies for rebuilding and resurrecting

human bodies on the Day of Resurrection. Among them are the way in which
tree leaves are restored perfectly (almost identically) to those of the
preceding year within a few days after the beginning of each spring; the way
in which all trees blossoms and fruits are re-created just like those of the
preceding spring; the sudden awakening, unfolding and coming to life of
countless seeds, kernels and roots, all of which are the origin of spring
growth; the way in which trees, resembling upright skeletons, abruptly begin
to show signs of resurrection after death (Nursi B. , 2005, p. 124).
The analogy of Universe to a book is also recurrent concept throughout
the Risale. In proving the existence of God as supreme Creator, Nursi argued
that if a book must have an author, then the Book of the Universe must
likewise have an author. He further depicted earths surface with every trees,
every fruits and every seeds as inscription by the pen of the Mighty God
(Nursi B. , 2005, p. 77).
According to Nursi, his use of allegories in the Risale contain realities
and their original meanings are like telescopes through which to see the
truth

being

discussed.

Moreover,

Nursi

aspired

to

make

his

book

understandable to everyone through such comparisons (Nursi, 2005, pp.

630-631).
Reflective thought
In writing the Risale, Nursi determined to combine his mind and his heart to
exercise what he called as reflective thought. This realization was driven by
command from the glorious Quran: Perchance they may reflect (7:176), Do
they not reflect in their own minds, did God create the heavens and the
earth? (30:8). Moreover, Nursi also considered the hadith which stated that
on occasion an hours reflection may be equivalent to a years worship as
another powerful encouragement for him (Markham & Pirim, 2011, p. 33).

Reflective thought and contemplation are important steps that help

human serve his duties in this universe. According to Nursi, as slave of God
man has two aspects of worship: One is worship and contemplation in the
absence of the Object of worship and The other is worship and
contemplation in His presence and addressing Him directly. In the first
aspect, Nursi invokes man to profess submissively the sovereignty of God
present in the universe, to study, to observe and to ponder over in wonder
the beings and earth and sky and to feel love for All-Beauteous Creator. In
the second aspect, Nursi stresses that reflective thought could bring a
believer to elevate from contemplating the work to the producer of the
work. In this station, man can see that God endowed His bounties and His
mercy for human to make Himself known so that man will respond with
gratitude, knowledge and belief. Hence, man will see that all beings in this
universe have Gods unparalleled signature and through worship and
contemplation in this manner man becomes a true believer (Nursi B. S.,
2008, pp. 338-339; Markham & Pirim, 2011, p. 34).
Significative meaning.
Nursi created the concept significative meaning in the Risale that derives
from Quranic principle. This concept employed to explain that beings in the
universe are not for themselves but for another. Everything in the universe
stands as evidence for the Almighty Gods Existence and Unity (Vahide,
2003, p. 13). Furthermore, Nursi analogizes all beings in the universe as
letters which through their significative meaning expressing the meaning of
another. They make known the names and attributes of God. In expounding
this notion of significative meaning, Nursi simultaneously rejected the
natural philosophy which has plunged into the decorations of the letters and
their relationship, losing its way and has deviated from the path of reality.
Instead of seeing the universe as bearing the meaning of Another, that is on
account of God, the Naturalists see all beings only as signifying themselves.
The Naturalists look on How beautiful things are instead of pondering on

How beautifully things have been made. Through this comparison, Nursi
sought to validate the message of the Quran and invalidate the natural
philosophy. (Nursi B. S., 2008, p. 145).
Universality
Nursi inspired by the universal nature of the Quran, therefore he applied
such spirit into the Risale. He believes that the truth isnt the privilege of
certain group, elite or social class. The truth can be accessed by anyone who
believes in God. Thus, it is through the light of belief that human being can
gain the truth and can raise to the highest degree of ranks and worthy of
paradise (Nursi, 2005, p. 327). Nursi describes how man, as miracle of the
Mighty Divine, has been endowed with comprehensive abilities and has been
sent to this world for trial and examination where he may fall or rise to
various ranks. Belief, according to Nursi, is the source of light and strength
by which those who acquires it may successful from the challenge in this
world. Furthermore, Nursi argued that human nature and abilities are tied to
knowledge and the foundation, source, light, and spirit of all true knowledge
is knowledge of God, of which belief is the very foundation (Nursi, 2005, p.
332).
By nature, men are noble and yearn to seek the truth. Men are created
with inclination to know his maker and the Creator of the universe. Therefore,
the Quran was delivered to all human beings, men and women. Nursi
affirmed the miraculous character of the Quran which contains much
compassion and kindness to every human being it addresses. Because
majority of Quran recipient are ordinary people, their minds are simple and
thus the Quran teaches clearly apparent and easily read signs on the face of
earth such as the rain made to fall from the sky, the alteration of day and
night and the creation of earth so that ordinary people will experience no
difficulty in reading them (Nursi B. S., 2008, p. 176). Nursi combines the
spirit and values contained in the Quran into the Risale. He did not limit his

audience to the boundaries of nation-state, ethnic group or social class

because he aspired that his message became universal (Karabaolu, 2003).
Nursi shows in the Risale that human role and purpose of creation is
knowledge and love of God. If the highest aim of humanity is love and belief
in God, then it is the duty and right of all human being to fulfill this aim.
Metin Karabaolu has identified that Risale embodied a goodwill character
of Nursi and his sincere intention to teach about belief and worship and no
wordly concern should diminish this enterprise. There are five important
works by Nursi that specifically address for women, youth, the sick, the
elderly and those in difficulty. These works are: A guide for women, A guide
for youth, Treatise for the sick, Treatise for the elderly and A letter of
condolence on the death of a child. By addressing the sick, elderly and those
who endure lost of a child, Nursi teaches the values of humanity and
patience to get through difficult times in life. By writing for women, youth,
and elderly, Nursi proves that the Risale does not exclusively a youth
movement and should be accessible and open to all (Karabaolu, 2003).
Anti-political stance.
The New Said had retreated from the world of politics. However, the
authorities were disturbed by the reality that the religious treatises Nursi was
writing at that time were being copied in handwritten version in hundreds of
homes when the publication and dissemination of writings on Islam was
prohibited. They alleged Nursi exploiting religion for political ends and
claiming that Nursi and the Risale-i Nur are politically motivated (Vahide,
2005, p. 211). Confronted by this allegation, Nursi expressed his attitude
against politics:
The New Said avoids (politics) so vehemently in order to serve belief and
the Quran, which is of the greatest importanceand so as not to sacrifice
unnecessarily for one or two doubtful years of wordly life his working for and
winning more than millions of years of eternal life (Nursi B. S., 2008, p. 81).

10

In explaining his withdrawal from wordly life, Nursi emphasized his

aspiration to focusly work for eternal life. For Nursi, service to the Quran and
belief requires him of staying away from politics because he analogized the
truths of belief and the Quran like diamonds which can not be polluted by
politics, otherwise he will depreciate the value of the diamonds and people
will regard him as using it for political propaganda. Furthermore, he viewed
that service of the All-Wise Quran is superior to all politics so that it does
not let a person condescend to (concern himself with) world politics, which
consists mostly of falsehood (Nursi B. S., 2008, p. 65).
Invalidation of Materialism and Secularism
A weighty discussion about the challenge of modern secularism and atheistic
philosophy occupied a significant portion in Nursis writing. He returned to
this topic over and over again. He analyzed and observed the circumstances
in which he was living and attempt to provide answers that are conform to
social reality.
Nursi argued that philosophy considers force to be the point of support
in social life. He said that based on this perspective, the goal of life is the
actualization of self-interest where conflict became its principle. What unified
community are race and aggressive nationalism as well as satisfaction of
carnal desire and increased need. The very base of social life which is force,
leads to aggression because everyone is seeking self-interest and hungry to
satisfy their material greed. This makes worse by racism which swallow
others and causing strife. As a consequence, humanity are in despair. To
remedy this

disease, Nursi calls

for revitalization of Quranic-based

civilization which looks the solution in the Quran, thus he wrote:

The Quran accepts right as the point of support in social life. The aim is
virtue and Gods approval, and its principle is mutual assistance. The only
community bonds it accepts are those of religion, profession and country. Its
aim is to control and thus weaken carnal desires by urging the soul to

11

sublime matters, satisfying our exalted feelings so that we will strive for
human perfection and true humanity. Right calls for unity, virtues bring
solidarity, and mutual assistance means helping each other. Religion secures
brotherhood, sisterhood and cohesion. Restraining our desires and urging the
soul to perfection brings happiness in this world and the next (Nursi B. ,
2005, p. 148).
Conclusion
Reading through the Risale, one can discern that Said Nursi main goal is to
prove the truth of belief and Gods Existence and Unity through his unique
and original methods. The method Nursi employed integrating a holistic view
of religion, life and nature and rational thought through observation, science
and logic. We can see here the knowledge-based character of modernity in
Nursi approach. Moreover, the spirit of universality is also very much visible
in the Risale because regardless of level of sophistication, education or age,
the Risale can speak to everyone. The challenging circumstances where
Nursi lived are also reflected in the Risale. By employing the incorporation of
religion and scientific knowledge, Nursi attempted both to strengthen the
foundation of religion and to refute the secularist materialist philosophy that
eroded

religious

principles.

Nursi

believed

that

revitalization

of

the

foundation of Islamic community should be based on Quranic principles and

therefore he wrote the Risale to expound Quranic message.
Given the preceding explanation about the important features of the
Risale, now I want to highlight in what ways the Risale fits within
Hermeneutic Islam theory by Bamyeh. Hermeneutic Islam emphasizes the
preoccupation of Islamic thinkers on organizing knowledge, that is, positing
Islam as object of contemplation instead of viewing Islam as self-evident that
is ready to use in organizing society. Said Nursi in New Said can fit within
the framework of Hermeneutic Islam perfectly because he exerting himself to
present the significance of religious belief and invites the reader to ponder

12

the Universe and to observe nature as clear proofs pointing to the existence
of God Almighty. Here, Nursi emphasizes that the process of understanding
and reading the book of Quran and the Book of Universe rested on human
and thus Nursi engaged in an attempt to showing human this truth. In this
sense, we can see that Nursis utmost concern is not to present Islam as an
instrument to response immediately to social problems (as in Instrumental
Islam) but to construct a deep understanding of Islamic foundation and
belief. However, it is interesting to note that in period of Old Said, Nursi
engaged in political projects to reform Ottoman empire and to promote
Europe democratic principles. As already explained in the paper, Nursi even
showing similarity to Rashid Rida in desiring to modernize Muslims like
Japanese modernize themselves through adoption of European values but
without abandoning their cultural identity. In this case, Nursi can be
categorized as Instrumentalist Islam.
Given

the

powerful

dissemination

of

secularist

and

materialist

philosophy that eroded the Islamic principles, it is difficult to not putting

Nursis mature thought in relations with these challenges. Nursi aware that
Islam needed to be saved from this invasion, thus he articulates a firm
opposition to secularist-materialist philosophy by offering Quranic precepts
that will cultivate the firm belief of God and Islamic truth in muslim hearts.
Whether he successful or not in doing this can be measured by how wide the
influence of the Risale is to Turkish people. As already mentioned, the
Risales circulation involved a large number of people who are sincerely
embracing Nursis message to preserve Islam despite the banning of Islamic
publication and opposition by government. This shows that government
projects to eliminate Islam through secularistic and atheistic philosophy have
not been entirely successful thanks to Nur movement.
To conclude, I would like to return to Bamyehs HermeneuticInstrumental Islam theory. Said Nursi and his life trajectory shows the shift
from being an Instrumentalist to being a Hermeneuts. However thin it is the

13

dissimilarity between Hermeneutics and Instrumental (we can not say

Hermeneutics as completely disinterested to respond to social problems and
do not engaged in organizing society as much as we can not say that
Instrumentals do not preoccupied in the enterprise to contemplate and
articulate Islamic theory), the hypothesis of Hermeneutic Islam and
Instrumental Islam by Bamyeh is still visibly useful. Ibrahim Abu-Rabi points
out that Nursi anti-political stance (in New Said period) is a kind of rebellion
to popular construct of the wedding of religion to politics in Muslim world
(Abu-Rabi, 2003, p. 77). What I see from this is that the Risale and Said Nursi
project indeed differs from other modernists project at that era and thus
should be placed in distinct category where Hermeneutic Islam could be the
answer.

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