Contemporary Islamic theology remains a neglected area in studies on Islam. This work is dedicated to the thought and ideas of Said Nursi (1876–1960), one of the most prominent Muslim theologians of the twentieth century. Nursi inspired a faith movement—the Nur community—that originated in Turkey. It continues to play a key role in the revival of Islam and now numbers several millions of followers worldwide. His legacy and impact deserve therefore to be examined more closely. This volume is the most substantial overview in English of the inspiration of Said Nursi and his masterpiece the Risale-i Nur. In the beginning, the essays provide the reader with Nursi’s historical context and biography. Then Nursi’s theological views, his understanding of society, and ideas on politics are placed under the spotlight. Over the last twenty years, more and more comparative religion specialists in the West have become acquainted with Said Nursi. Nursi studies is now an established discipline, and this volume is a celebration of that reality. As it reveals, Muslims and Christians are grappling with the wisdom of this remarkable, rich thinker.

Contemporary Islamic theology remains a neglected area in studies on Islam. This work is dedicated to the thought and ideas of Said Nursi (1876-1960), one of the most prominent Muslim theologians of the twentieth century. Nursi inspired a faith movement--the Nur community--that originated in Turkey. It continues to play a key role in the revival of Islam and now numbers several millions of followers worldwide. His legacy and impact deserve therefore to be examined more closely. This volume is the most substantial overview in English of the inspiration of Said Nursi and his masterpiece the Risale-i Nur. In the beginning, the essays provide the reader with Nursi's historical context and biography. Then Nursi's theological views, his understanding of society, and ideas on politics are placed under the spotlight. Over the last twenty years, more and more comparative religion specialists in the West have become acquainted with Said Nursi. Nursi studies is now an established discipline, and this volume is a celebration of that reality. As it reveals, Muslims and Christians are grappling with the wisdom of this remarkable, rich thinker.

This volume provides a comparative philosophical investigation into a particular concept from a variety of angles—in this case, the concept of “miracle.” The text covers deeply philosophical questions around the miracle, with a multiplicity of answers. Each chapter brings its own focus to this multifaceted effort. The volume rejects the primarily western focus that typically dominates philosophy of religion and is filled with particular examples of miracle narratives, community responses, and polemical scenarios across widely varying religious contexts and historical periods. Some of these examples defy religious categorization, and some papers challenge the applicability of the concept “miracle,” which is of western and monotheistic origin. By examining miracles thru a wide comparative context, this text presents a range of descriptive content and analysis, with attention to the audience, to the subjective experiences being communicated, and to the flavor of the narratives that come to surround miracles. This book appeals to students and researchers working in philosophy of religion and science, as well those in comparative religion. It represents, in written form, some of the perspectives and dialogue achieved in The Comparison Project’s 2017–2019 lecture series on miracles. The Comparison Project is an enterprise in comparing a variety of religious voices, allowing them to stand in dialogue.

What forms can a religiously informed, ethical Muslim life take? This book presents two important accounts of ideal Muslim subjectivity, one by 9th century moral pedagogue, al-Harith al-Muhasibi (d. 857) and the other by 20th century Kurdish Quran scholar, Said Nursi (d. 1960). It reconstructs Muhasibi’s and Nursi’s accounts of ideal Muslim consciousness and analyzes the discursive practices implicated in its formation and expression. The book discusses the range of psychic states and ethical relations that Muhasibi and Nursi consider critical for living an authentically Muslim life. It highlights the importance of discursive practices in Muslim religious and moral self-production. The author draws on Foucault's insights about ethics and practices of self-care to examine familiar Muslim discourses in ways that enrich contemporary conversations about identity, individuality, community, authority, moral agency and virtue in the fields of religious studies, Islamic studies and Muslim ethics. The book deepens our understanding of the fluidity and fragility of both the more familiar, obligation-centered ethics in Islamic thought and the less familiar, belief-centered modes of religio-moral being.

Contemporary Islamic thinkers are often studied sociologically rather than as theologians. There are many accessible introductions to Christian theologians, but very few such studies of Islamic thinkers. This book, and this series, seeks to change this situation: offering new introductions to influential Islamic thinkers and engaging, at the level of ideas, with the rich depths of contemporary Islamic theology. This book introduces to the English-speaking world the leading modern Islamic thinker Said Nursi (1878-1960) - who has some nine million followers in modern day Turkey and around the world. After an opening chapter that provides an overview of his life, the next four chapters outline the theology of Nursi on God, the Qur'an, the West and Politics. The final section provides an invaluable resource of readings from Nursi's most important writings. Providing an introduction to a major form of Islam which is committed to non-violence, dialogue and constructive relationships with the West, this is the first student textbook to introduce a contemporary Islamic theologian in a systematic way.

Today Islam is often associated with violence, more so than other world religions. In the center of this reception of Islam is the concept of jihad, which has been distorted by many. On the one hand, there are some Muslims who take jihad as a reference point for their violent crimes against innocent people. On the other hand, the concept is intentionally used to promote fear against Islam and its adherents. This study challenges these presentations of jihad by exploring the late Muslim theologian Said Nursi's jihad of nonviolence. The book shows how Nursi's teaching concerning nonviolent struggle, reconciliation, and religious tolerance has much in common with Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Gandhi, as well as Martin Luther King Jr.