Risale-i Nur
| Author | Said Nursi |
|---|---|
| Original title | Risale-i Nur Külliyatı |
| Country | Turkey |
| Language | Ottoman Turkish, Arabic |
| Genre | Tafsir |
| Media type | Print (hardcover) |
The Risale-i Nur Collection (Turkish: Risale-i Nur Külliyatı, Ottoman Turkish: رسالة نور كلىاتي) is a tafsir (Islamic exegesis) on the Qur'an written by Bediuzzaman Said Nursi between the 1910s and 1950s in Turkey. The commentary does not keep to the order of the ayah as is done in classic Islamic exegesis, as it makes comments on their meanings. It is rather a thematic tafsir which deals with the doubts surrounding the basic doctrines and principles of Islam. The collection includes fourteen books.
The primary purpose of the Risale-i Nur is to bring about a religious revival in Turkey.
The collection includes an analysis of Islamic sources and a reinterpretation of the text for the "mentality" of Said Nursi's age. However, it isn't solely an exegesis, as it includes reflections and details about Said Nursi's own life and interpretations. These reflections and details help the reader to learn how to practice everyday activities on Qur'an norms, and "install" Qur'an to a person's alternating life situations and emotions.
With these writings, Bediuzzaman opened 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 Prophet 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. For there are various sorts of commentaries. The verses mostly expounded in the Risale-i Nur are 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. Bediuzzaman 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. The Risale-i Nur, then, explains that face of the Qur'an which looks to this age. We shall now look at further aspects of the Risale-i Nur related to this point.
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