Recent from talks
Risale-i Nur
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
Risale-i Nur
The Risale-i Nur Collection (Turkish: Risale-i Nur Külliyatı, Ottoman Turkish: رساله نور كلیاتی) is a collection of religious writings by Said Nursî, a Kurdish Islamic scholar from the Bitlis region of Turkey, which were composed between the 1910s and 1950s. Unlike classic tafsirs (commentaries on the Qur'an), the Risale-i Nur doesn't sequentially explain the linguistics, vocabulary, or jurisprudence of the Qur'anic text verse by verse, but instead focuses on proving and explaining the fundamental truths of faith (iman) within the verses of the Qur'an, using logical and rational arguments, topic by topic.
Risale-i Nur collection was penned amid the transition between late Ottoman Empire and establishment of new Turkish Republic. During this time period, a series of strong oppressive regulations had been put in place, such as the ban of all religious practices in their original Arabic form throughout the country, prohibiting the citizens from wearing religious dressing and refuters receiving punishment in form of death penalty. During the time period Risale-i Nur collection was publicized, measures against its circulation had been taken. The books include an analysis of Islamic sources and a reinterpretation of the text for the "mentality" of Said Nursi's age. However, it is not solely an exegesis, as it includes reflections and details about Said Nursi's own life and interpretations.
With these writings, Said Nursî claimed to open up a new, direct way to reality (haqiqat) and knowledge of God which he described as the highway of the Qur'an and way of the companions of Muhammad through the "legacy of prophethood", which gains for those who follow it "true and certain belief". Said Nursi did not ascribe the writings to himself, but claimed that they "proceeded from the Qur'an itself" like "rays shining out of from [its] truths".
Thus, rather than being a Qur'anic commentary which expounds all its verses giving the immediate reasons for their revelation and the apparent meanings of the words and sentences, the Risale-i Nur is what is known as a mânevî tefsir, or commentary which expounds the meaning of the Qur'anic truths. The verses expounded in the Risale-i Nur are mostly those concerned with the truths of belief, such as the Divine Names and attributes and the Divine activity in the universe, the Divine existence and Oneness, resurrection, prophethood, Divine Determining or destiny, and man's duties of worship. Nursî explains how the Qur'an addresses all men in every age in accordance with the degree of their understanding and development; it has a face that looks to each age.
According to Nursî, the Qur'an invites man to observe the universe and reflect on the Divine activity within it; following this method, Nursî claims proofs and explanations for the truths of belief. He likens the universe to a book, and looking at it in the way shown by the Qur'an, that is, 'reading' it for its meaning, learns of the Divine Names and attributes and other truths of belief. The book's purpose is to describe its Author and Maker; beings become evidences and signs to their Creator. Thus, an important element in the way of the Risale-i Nur is reflection or contemplation (tefekkür), 'reading' the Book of the Universe in order to increase in knowledge of God and to obtain 'true and certain belief' in all the truths of belief. Nursî attempts to demonstrate that the fundamentals of Islam, such as Divine Oneness, arrived at in this way are the only rational and logical explanation of the universe, and criticizes Naturalist and Materialist philosophy which have used science's findings about the universe to deny those truths.
Also, following this method, in the Risale-i Nur, Nursî dealt with many mysteries of religion, such as bodily resurrection and Divine Determining and man's will, and the riddle of the constant activity in the universe and the motion of particles, before which man relying on his own intellect and philosophy had been impotent.
While in Barla, Nursî compiled the treatise on Resurrection and the pieces that followed it together in the form of a collection and which he named Sözler ("The Words"). Sözler was followed by Mektubat (Letters), a collection of thirty-three letters of varying lengths from Nursî to his students. This was followed by Lem'alar (The Flashes Collection) and Şualar (The Rays), which was completed in 1949. Together with these are the three collections of Additional Letters, each for one of Nursî's main places of exile: Barla Lahikası, Kastamonu Lahikası, and Emirdağ Lahikası. During the production of the Risale-i Nur Nursî would dictate at speed to a scribe, who would write down the piece in question with equal speed. Nursî had no books for reference and the writing of religious works was forbidden. They were all written therefore in the mountains and out in the countryside. Handwritten copies were then made, and these were secretly copied out in the houses of the Risale-i Nur 'students', as they were called, and passed from village to village, and then from town to town, until they spread throughout Turkey. Only in 1946 were Risale-i Nur students able to obtain duplicating machines, while it was not till 1956 that various parts were printed on modern presses in the new, Latin, script. The figure given for hand-written copies is 600,000. It may be seen from the above figure how the Risale-i Nur Movement spread within Turkey, despite all efforts to stop it. After 1950, the period of what Nursî called 'the Third Said', there was a great increase in the number of students, particularly among the young and those who had been through the secular education system of the Republic. At the same time the number of students outside Turkey increased.
The Words is the first volume of the Risale-i Nur and consist of thirty-three independent parts or "Words", which explain and prove the fundamentals of Belief, including its myriad virtues and advantages. Included here are exposition of the Divine Names and Attributes in creation, the resurrection of the dead and the Hereafter, Prophethood and the Ascension, the Miraculousness of the Qur'an, the angels, the immortality of man's soul, Divine Determining (fate or destiny), together with discussion on the true nature of man and the universe, The wisdom of the specified times of the five daily prayers, and man's fundamental and innate need to worship Allah. This work responds to the attacks against the Qur'an in the name of science and philosophy, and attempts to demonstrate the rationality of belief in Allah.
Hub AI
Risale-i Nur AI simulator
(@Risale-i Nur_simulator)
Risale-i Nur
The Risale-i Nur Collection (Turkish: Risale-i Nur Külliyatı, Ottoman Turkish: رساله نور كلیاتی) is a collection of religious writings by Said Nursî, a Kurdish Islamic scholar from the Bitlis region of Turkey, which were composed between the 1910s and 1950s. Unlike classic tafsirs (commentaries on the Qur'an), the Risale-i Nur doesn't sequentially explain the linguistics, vocabulary, or jurisprudence of the Qur'anic text verse by verse, but instead focuses on proving and explaining the fundamental truths of faith (iman) within the verses of the Qur'an, using logical and rational arguments, topic by topic.
Risale-i Nur collection was penned amid the transition between late Ottoman Empire and establishment of new Turkish Republic. During this time period, a series of strong oppressive regulations had been put in place, such as the ban of all religious practices in their original Arabic form throughout the country, prohibiting the citizens from wearing religious dressing and refuters receiving punishment in form of death penalty. During the time period Risale-i Nur collection was publicized, measures against its circulation had been taken. The books include an analysis of Islamic sources and a reinterpretation of the text for the "mentality" of Said Nursi's age. However, it is not solely an exegesis, as it includes reflections and details about Said Nursi's own life and interpretations.
With these writings, Said Nursî claimed to open up a new, direct way to reality (haqiqat) and knowledge of God which he described as the highway of the Qur'an and way of the companions of Muhammad through the "legacy of prophethood", which gains for those who follow it "true and certain belief". Said Nursi did not ascribe the writings to himself, but claimed that they "proceeded from the Qur'an itself" like "rays shining out of from [its] truths".
Thus, rather than being a Qur'anic commentary which expounds all its verses giving the immediate reasons for their revelation and the apparent meanings of the words and sentences, the Risale-i Nur is what is known as a mânevî tefsir, or commentary which expounds the meaning of the Qur'anic truths. The verses expounded in the Risale-i Nur are mostly those concerned with the truths of belief, such as the Divine Names and attributes and the Divine activity in the universe, the Divine existence and Oneness, resurrection, prophethood, Divine Determining or destiny, and man's duties of worship. Nursî explains how the Qur'an addresses all men in every age in accordance with the degree of their understanding and development; it has a face that looks to each age.
According to Nursî, the Qur'an invites man to observe the universe and reflect on the Divine activity within it; following this method, Nursî claims proofs and explanations for the truths of belief. He likens the universe to a book, and looking at it in the way shown by the Qur'an, that is, 'reading' it for its meaning, learns of the Divine Names and attributes and other truths of belief. The book's purpose is to describe its Author and Maker; beings become evidences and signs to their Creator. Thus, an important element in the way of the Risale-i Nur is reflection or contemplation (tefekkür), 'reading' the Book of the Universe in order to increase in knowledge of God and to obtain 'true and certain belief' in all the truths of belief. Nursî attempts to demonstrate that the fundamentals of Islam, such as Divine Oneness, arrived at in this way are the only rational and logical explanation of the universe, and criticizes Naturalist and Materialist philosophy which have used science's findings about the universe to deny those truths.
Also, following this method, in the Risale-i Nur, Nursî dealt with many mysteries of religion, such as bodily resurrection and Divine Determining and man's will, and the riddle of the constant activity in the universe and the motion of particles, before which man relying on his own intellect and philosophy had been impotent.
While in Barla, Nursî compiled the treatise on Resurrection and the pieces that followed it together in the form of a collection and which he named Sözler ("The Words"). Sözler was followed by Mektubat (Letters), a collection of thirty-three letters of varying lengths from Nursî to his students. This was followed by Lem'alar (The Flashes Collection) and Şualar (The Rays), which was completed in 1949. Together with these are the three collections of Additional Letters, each for one of Nursî's main places of exile: Barla Lahikası, Kastamonu Lahikası, and Emirdağ Lahikası. During the production of the Risale-i Nur Nursî would dictate at speed to a scribe, who would write down the piece in question with equal speed. Nursî had no books for reference and the writing of religious works was forbidden. They were all written therefore in the mountains and out in the countryside. Handwritten copies were then made, and these were secretly copied out in the houses of the Risale-i Nur 'students', as they were called, and passed from village to village, and then from town to town, until they spread throughout Turkey. Only in 1946 were Risale-i Nur students able to obtain duplicating machines, while it was not till 1956 that various parts were printed on modern presses in the new, Latin, script. The figure given for hand-written copies is 600,000. It may be seen from the above figure how the Risale-i Nur Movement spread within Turkey, despite all efforts to stop it. After 1950, the period of what Nursî called 'the Third Said', there was a great increase in the number of students, particularly among the young and those who had been through the secular education system of the Republic. At the same time the number of students outside Turkey increased.
The Words is the first volume of the Risale-i Nur and consist of thirty-three independent parts or "Words", which explain and prove the fundamentals of Belief, including its myriad virtues and advantages. Included here are exposition of the Divine Names and Attributes in creation, the resurrection of the dead and the Hereafter, Prophethood and the Ascension, the Miraculousness of the Qur'an, the angels, the immortality of man's soul, Divine Determining (fate or destiny), together with discussion on the true nature of man and the universe, The wisdom of the specified times of the five daily prayers, and man's fundamental and innate need to worship Allah. This work responds to the attacks against the Qur'an in the name of science and philosophy, and attempts to demonstrate the rationality of belief in Allah.