This book explores the theology and philosophy of the distinguished modern Muslim scholar and theologian Bediuzzaman Said Nursi d.1960. Nursi wrote in both Ottoman Turkish and Arabic and his life and ...thought reflected the transition of modern Turkey from an empire to a secular republic. The contributors to this volume shed new light on two major dimensions of Nursi's thought: theodicy and justice. Classical Muslim theologians debated these two important issues; however, we must consider the modern debate of these issues in the context of the radical political and social transformations of modern Turkey. Nursi explored these matters as they related to the development of state and society and the crisis of Islam in the modern secular nation-state. Nursi is the founder of a 'faith movement' in contemporary Turkey with millions of followers worldwide. In this book, distinguished scholars in Islamic, Middle Eastern, and Turkish Studies explore Nursi's thought on theodicy and justice in comparison with a number of western philosophers, theologians, and men of letters, such as Dante, Merton, Kant, and Moltman. This book presents an invaluable resource for studies in comparative religion, philosophy, and Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies.
Ibrahim M. Abu-Rabi is ECMC Chair Of Islamic Studies, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada, and author of 15 books in English on Islamic thought and practice.
Contents: Editor's introduction; Theodicy and the many meanings of Adam and Eve, Barbara Freyer Stowasser; Living life in the light of death: a conversation with Bediuzzaman Said Nursi, Ian Markham; The resurrection of the dead and the final judgment in Said Nursi's thought, Thomas Michel; Proof of the resurrection of the dead: Said Nursi's approach, Sükran Vahide; Death in Nursi's thought, Bilal Kuspinar; La Siyyama: Nursi's treatise on al-Hashr in Mathnawi al-Nuriye, Lucinda Mosher; Resurrection in the writings of Bediuzzaman Said Nursi: comparative reflections with Christian theology, W. Mark Richardson; The resurrection of the dead: Said Nursi and Jürgen Moltmann, Leo D. Lefebure; The problem of animal pain: an introduction to Nursi's approach, Cüneyt M. Simsek; Justice, morality, and modernity: what makes the Risale-i Nur modern?, Dale F. Eickelman; Two epistles of consolation: Al-Shahid al-Thani and Said Nursi on theodicy, Eric Ormsby; 'Landscape and melancholy': Said Nursi, Dante Alighieri and the contexts of modernism, Gareth Jones; Said Nursi's approach to justice and its role for political reforms in the Muslim world, Leonid R. Sykiainen; Reflections on prayer and social justice in the thought of Thomas Merton and Bediuzzaman Said Nursi, David R. Law; God's justice in relation to natural disasters, Thomas Michel; Justice and balance in creation: Said Nursi's analysis, Bilal Kuspinar; Nursi's compassion and Kant's categorical imperative: justice and ethics in building a better world, Ian Kaplow; Index.
The Contemporary Arab Reader on Political Islam brings together the writings of highly influential figures in the field of Islamism in the contemporary Arab world, many of whose writings have never ...been available before in English. Addressing the key issues such as human rights, civil society, secularism, globalisation and ummah, and the impact of the West on the modern Arab world, this is the perfect starting point for students and academics looking to understand 'Political Islam' in contemporary Arab and Muslim societies. The contributors include such important Islamist thinkers and activists as Abdullah Azzam, central to the spread of Islamism in Afghanistan, Sayyid Muhammad Hussain Fadlallah, a major Shiite figure in contemporary Lebanon and Ahmad Bin Yousuf, a political advisor to Akram Haniyya in Gaza.
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.
This classic book explores the intellectual, political and social foundations of Islamism, and current Islamist groups across the Arab and Muslim worlds. Written by Egyptian philosopher and leading ...Arab intellectual, Fouad Zakariyya, and now available for the first time in English, this thoughtful book has no rival as a critical introduction to the nature of contemporary Islamism. The book was written in the aftermath of the assassination of Egyptian president Anwar Sadat, and at the height of global debates about the relevance of Islamism in contemporary Muslim societies - especially in the light of Iran's Islamic revolution in 1979. Zakariyya offers an important analysis of the multiple voices of current Islamism. He explores various recent attempts to construct an Islamic social and political order, presenting a sustained critique of modern ideological currents and theological worldviews. He delves into the sensitive question of Shari'ah, civil society and democracy in the Arab world. Ultimately, Zakariyya argues for a secular and democratic civil society that is unconstrained by past interpretations of the Shari'ah.
Islam in Modern Turkey Sukran Vahide / Ibrahim M. Abu-Rabi' / Ibrahim M. Abu-Rabi'
2012
eBook
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.
Contemporary Arab Thought is a complex term, encompassing a constellation of social, political, religious and ideological ideas that have evolved over the past two hundred years — ideas that ...represent the leading positions of the social classes in modern and contemporary Arab societies. Distinguished Islamic scholar Ibrahim Abu-Rabi‘ addresses such questions as the Shari‘ah, human rights, civil society, secularism and globalization. This is complimented by a focused discussion on the writings of key Arab thinkers who represent established trends of thought in the Arab world, including Muhammad ‘Abid al-Jabiri, Adallah Laroui, Muhammad al-Ghazali, Rashid al-Ghannoushi, Qutatnine Zurayk, Mahdi ‘Amil and many others. Before 1967, some Arab countries launched hopeful programmes of modernisation. After the 1967 defeat with Israel, many of these hopes were dashed. This book retraces the Arab world’s aborted modernity of recent decades. Abu-Rabi‘ explores the development of contemporary Arab thought against the historical background of the rise of modern Islamism, and the impact of the West on the modern Arab world.
