A Religiological Analysis of Nursi's View of Sufism Expressed in the ‘Nine Allusions’ (Telvihât-ı Tis'a) of the Risale-i Nur

Abstract

While Nursi stated explicitly that he was not a Sufi, he nevertheless expressed many Sufi perspectives in his work. In particular, his focus in the section of the Risale-i Nur called ‘Nine Allusions’ (Telvihât-ı Tis'a) was Sufism. This article uses a method of analysing religious perspectives called ‘religiology’, in order to coherently and systematically unpack Nursi's attitudes to Sufism. Organizing his Sufi perspectives in the categories of epistemology, ontology (including theology, cosmology, and eschatology), anthropology, psychology, teleology, and methodology, the article demonstrates that he agrees with certain aspects of Sufism and disagrees with others.

Notes

1. All quotations in English from Nursi's ‘Nine Allusions’ are taken from Nursi (Mektubat).

2. The ‘Eighth Allusion’ consists of eight of Nursi's criticisms of some Sufis and their perspectives, while, by contrast, the entirety of the ‘Ninth Allusion’ consists of Nursi's discussion of nine of the benefits of the Sufi path. In addition, Nursi states emphatically that one should not reject Sufism as a whole simply because of abuses on the part of some Sufis. ‘The most regrettable thing is this: making a pretext [of] certain abuses and faults they have seen among the followers of the Sufi path, some externalist scholars from among the Sunnis and some neglectful politicians who are also Sunnis are trying to close up that supreme treasury, indeed, to destroy it, and to dry up that source of Kawthar which distributes a sort of water of life. However, there are few things and ways and paths which are without fault and are altogether good. There are bound to be some faults and abuses. For if the uninitiated undertake a matter, they are sure to misuse it …. There is another thing; the Sufi path may not be condemned because of the evils of certain ways which have adopted practices outside the bounds of taqwa, and even of Islam, and have wrongfully given themselves the name of Sufi paths’ (Nursi, Mektubat, Third Allusion).

3. ‘Tarikat,’ ‘tasavvuf’ namıyla ulvî bir sırr-ı insanî ve bir kemâl-i beşerîdir' (Nursi, Risale-i Nur Külliyatı, ‘Dokuzuncu Kısım: Telvihât-ı Tis'a’; <http://www.nurperi.com/risale/turkish/nurlar-tr/b-mektubat/metin/0561.htm> [accessed 18 October 2007]) and Nursi, Mektubat, First Allusion. Nursi also states, ‘Yes, just as sainthood and the Sufi path are evidence and proof of Messengership and the Shari'a, so too they are a perfection of Islam and a means to its lights, and through Islam, a source of the progress and prosperity of humanity’ (Nursi, n.d., Mektubat, Third Allusion).

4. In addition, Algar cites Korkusuz (1991), in which Nursi's writings on Sufism are collected.

5. Algar notes that the ‘Nine Allusions’ were ‘devoted to a description of Sufism’ (2001, p. 217).

6. I am assuming that Nursi, rather than an editor, placed the addendum in its current location, but this should be investigated.

7. In addition to being an addendum to the ‘Nine Allusions’ in the ‘Twenty-Ninth Letter’ of the Mektubat, the same material is included as an addendum to the ‘Twenty-Sixth Word’ (Söz) in the section of the Risale-i Nur titled Sözler (Words) (<http://www.nursistudies.com/downloads/pdf/THE%20WORDS.pdf> [accessed 16 October 2007]).

8. Nursi states this in the following manner: ‘Indeed, like ecstatic love [aşk], impotence [acz] is a path which, by way of worship [sic—the correct translation is ‘servanthood’ (ubudiyet)], leads to winning God's love [sic—this should be translated, ‘leads as far as belovedness’ (mahbubiyete kadar gider)]; but it is safer. Poverty [fakr] too leads to the Divine Name of All-Merciful [Rahmân]. And, like ecstatic love, compassion [şefkat] leads to the Name of All-Compassionate [Rahîm], but is a swifter and broader path. Also like ecstatic love, reflection [tefekkür] leads to the Name of All-Wise [Hakîm], but it is richer, broader, and more brilliant [parlak, which can also be translated as radiant]' (Mektubat, p. 536).

9. The ritual of tesbihat (glorifications), which involves reflecting upon ṣubḥān allāh (Glory be to God [who transcends all]), al-ḥamdu li-llāh (Praise is due to God), allāhu akbar (God is greater) 33 times each.

10. The four verses that allude to the four steps are: (1) ‘Therefore, do not justify [tuzakkū] yourselves’ (Q 53:32); (2) ‘And be not like those who forget God, and He therefore makes them forget their own selves’ (Q 59:19); (3) ‘Whatever good happens to you is from God, but whatever evil befalls you is from yourself’ (Q 4:79); and (4) ‘Everything will perish save His countenance’ (Q 28:88).

11. Although Nursi regards the Qur'an as being the pre-eminent source of knowledge for both essential Sufism and the Risale-i Nur, in the ‘Nine Allusions’ (excluding the addendum, in which he focuses on his own path), Nursi only quotes from the Qur'an three times. The verses he quotes are: ‘Indeed, on the friends of God there is no fear, nor shall they grieve’ (Q 10:62); ‘But the life of this world is but goods and chattels’ (Q 3:185); ‘Glory be unto You! We have no knowledge save that which You have taught us; indeed, You are All-Knowing, All-Wise!’ (Q 2:32).

12. The doctrine of the ‘unity of being’ (waḥdat al-wujūd) of the school of Ibn ^cArabī was and continues to be a contentious issue. A discussion of the subject by a contemporary Sunni Sufi scholar can be found in G. F. Haddad, n.d., ‘Ibn ‘Arabi’.

13. Nursi expressed his wariness of articulating knowledge derived from the heart and spiritual states as follows: ‘Furthermore, [they] should not translate [the knowledge deriving from the Unity of Witnessing], which pertains to the heart and to illuminations and certain states, into a form which pertains to the reason, knowledge, and words. For the laws and principles pertaining to the reason, knowledge, and speech, which proceed from the Qur'an and the Sunna of the Prophet, cannot sustain that way [of the unity of witnessing, through illuminations]; they cannot be applied. For this reason, this way is not to be seen explicitly in the Four Rightly-Guided Caliphs, the leading authorities and interpreters of the Law, and the authorities of the first generations of Islam. That means it is not the most elevated way. Perhaps it is elevated, but it is deficient. It is very important, but it is very perilous and difficult … To present it [i.e. the Unity of Witnessing] as intellectual knowledge to those who are … enamoured of the world [would be] to distance them from the reality of Islam … and opens up the way to the abyss of denying God’ (Nursi, Mektubat, Fifth Allusion).

14. I prefer to translate inkişaf as ‘unveiling’ rather than ‘unfolding’ See Nursi, n.d., Mektubat, First Allusion, 2001, p. 518.

15. Tarikatin gaye-i maksadı … zevkî, hâlî ve bir derece şuhudî hakaik-i imaniye ve Kur'âniyeye mazhariyet (Nursi, Mektubat, ‘Birinci telvih’, First Allusion).

16. Kuşpınar, citing Ibn ^cArabi's Fuṣūṣ al-ḥikam (p. 18), states, ‘Nursi's notion of fihriste-i camia appears to be a replica of Ibn ^cArabi's that of kawn jami’, which occurs originally in his Fuṣūṣ al-Ḥikam and is mostly rendered in the Sufi literature as “microcosmic being,” that ultimately stands for the “perfect man” (al-insān al-kāmil) through whom God manifests His mystery to Himself' (Kuşpınar, 1995, p. 18).

17. Nursi expressed the ‘human condition’ in the following manner: ‘Tumultuous worldly life is as follows: everyone wants a solace and seeks a pleasure in order to be saved a little from the upheavals of life and its heavy burdens, and to take a breather; everyone searches out something familiar and friendly to banish the loneliness. The social gatherings in civilized life afford a temporary, but heedless and drunken familiarity, intimacy, and solace for one or two out of ten people. However, eighty per cent live solitary lives in mountains or valleys, or are driven to distant places in search of a livelihood, or due to agencies like calamities and old age which make them think of the hereafter, they are deprived of the sociableness of man's groups and societies. The situation affords them no familiarity, friendliness, or consolation’ (Nursi, Mektubat, Second Allusion).

18. I have translated ‘ubudiyet as ‘servanthood’, while the online translation renders it as ‘worship’ (Nursi, Mektubat, <http://www.esselam.net/risaleinur/nurlar-tr/b-mektubat/metin/0567.htm> [accessed 21 May 2007]; Risale-i Nur Collection]).

19. After discussing the elite of the elite, Nursi also speaks of ‘materialists’, those who are ‘submerged in causes, enamoured of the world, plunged into materialist philosophy and physical nature (tabiat)’ (Nursi, Mektubat, Fifth Allusion).

20. ‘Hakikî zevke ve ciddî teselliye ve kedersiz lezzete ve vahşetsiz ünsiyete, hakikî medar ve vasıta olan tevekkül makamını ve teslim rütbesini ve rıza derecesini kazanmaktır’ (Nursi, Mektubat, Ninth Allusion).

21. It is certainly no coincidence that for both Nursi and Gülen ‘service’ is of great importance. Gülen's movement is even known as Hizmet (Service).

22. ‘The aim and goal of the Sufi path is … to manifest the truths of belief and the Qur'an’ (Nursi, Mektubat, First Allusion).

23. ‘I [God] only created jinn and human beings so that they would worship Me’ (Q 51:56).

24. ‘[The Sufis] are also one of the three most important, unshakeable strongholds of Islam against the awesome attacks of the world of unbelief and the politics of Christendom. What preserved Istanbul, the centre of the Caliphate for five hundred and fifty years against the whole Christian world, were (1) the lights of belief which poured out of five hundred places in Istanbul and (2) the strength of belief of those who recited “Allah! Allah!” in the tekkes behind the big mosques, a firm point of support of the people of belief in that centre of Islam, and (3) their spiritual love arising from knowledge (marifet) of God, and (4) their fervent murmurings. O you unreasoning pseudo-patriots and false nationalists! Which of the evils of the Sufi paths can refute this good in the life of your society? You say!’ (Nursi, Mektubat, Third Allusion).

25. Nursi, Ninth Allusion.

26. ‘There are two Shari^cas: The First is the Shari^ca that we know which orders the actions and conduct of man, the microcosm, and proceeds from the attribute of Speech. The Second is the Supreme Shari^ca of Creation [i.e. the Supreme Primordial Shari^ca], which orders the motion and rest of the world, the macroanthropos, proceeds from the attribute of Will, and is sometimes wrongly called Nature. The angels are a vast community; they are the bearers, representatives, and personifications of the creative commands which proceed from the attribute of Will and are the Shari^ca of Creation’ (Nursi, Seeds).

27. ‘Mütemadiyen ömür dakikaları huzur içinde bir ibadet hükmüne getirilebilir’ (Nursi, Mektubat, Sixth Allusion).