Bediuzzaman Said Nursi’s Approach For Integraation Of Knowledge Between Religious And Modern Sciences: An Analysis
Keywords:
Integration of knowledge, education reforms, national unity, Bediuzzaman Said NursiAbstract
Bediuzzaman Said Nursi ((1877-1960) was a prominent Turkish Islamic scholar and reformist in nineteenth century in Turkey. In the first half of life as an old Said, he tried to revive Islam and society by means of politics, but he realized that Ataturk’s state is going to be a secular state and he decided to abandon political and social activism. In the second part of his life, as a new said, he decided to revive the faith and soul of individuals by which he aims to change in every aspect of human life. During this period, he was more concern with Muslim religious and educational reforms and propagation of the Muslim unity for restoring the Ottoman empire. The study shows that the aspect of his life and thought of integration of knowledge has received less attention from scholars compared to his reformist and modernist thought in the religious and educational reforms. Although he worked hard to revive the educational curriculum as a whole and emphasized to establish the university but was not successful during his lifetime. The main aim of his reform was Muslim socio-cultural advancement and scientific progress and realization of the challenges of the disunity of the Muslim ummah. He presented the concept of integration of knowledge against a framework of problematic educational curriculum and proposed to establish a university in which religious sciences and modern sciences will be taught together. His special emphasis on Muslim education was prescribed by the social fact that the Muslim community was backward compared to the Europe and, moreover, they were suppressed and oppressed under the British colonial rulers.
Given the context, the present study primarily aims to investigate Nursi’s inclusive vision of the concept and application of integration of knowledge between naqli(revelation) and aqli(intellect) as means to its realization as described in some of his literary works. It seeks to
explain why he has espoused such a bold vision and how he intended to achieve the goal of integration of knowledge while facing many obstacles. Highlighted in this discussion are the salient features of integration of knowledge between religious sciences and modern sciences prior to and during his time that influenced their later developments. This study also describes the significance and relevance of his thoughts and ideas on Integration of knowledge and its implication for contemporary intellectual community. It also explores whether this approach can implement or whether the only option for scholars who proposed this project is to discuss its theoretical and practical dimensions.
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