Islamic Political Identity in Turkey

152 islamic political identity in turkeyestablish new solidarity networks and everyday-life strategies for coping withnew conditions. Living during the collapse of the Ottoman state and the emergenceof the new Republic, Nursi had to respond to the dominant debates ofhis time. To understand the shift in emphasis in Nursi’s works, one needs tosee the diVerence between the “Old Said” and the “New Said,” as he referred tohimself in diVerent periods. 1 The New Said was the older Said who had turnedmore toward an examination of his own inner dimension.Nursi was born in 1876 in the village of Nurs in Bitlis province of easternAnatolia. He was Wrst educated by his oldest brother, Molla Abdullah; then hecontinued to educate himself by participating in SuW gatherings and followedthe medrese cirricula. 2 Although Nursi was ambivalent about the role of the SuWorders in revitalizing Islam and disapproved of the rigid relationship betweenthe SuW sheik and his disciples, his way of thinking and method of argumentationnonetheless were inXuenced by the SuWsm of Anatolia. 3 Nursi himselfadmitted that the cultural dominance of the Nak7ibendi order in this environmenthad a signiWcant impact on him. 4 He not only developed close workingrelationships with prominent Nak7ibendi sheiks but also eagerly read the worksof the great Indian SuW Ahmad Sirhindi during his transformation into the NewSaid. 5 However, Nursi remained critical of certain aspects of traditional SuWsm,arguing that SuW traditions, which are based on imitative learning and faith,only could play a limited role in social reforms during an age of modern skepticism.However, he realized the important historic role of SuW orders in rejuvenatingIslam and adapting to social changes in the Ottoman Empire. In hisessay entitled “Telvihat-ì Tis’a” (The nine allusions), Nursi defended the ordersagainst the attacks by the Kemalist regime. 6 Nursi also regularly read the worksof the Nak7ibendi sheiks Sirhindi and Ahmed Gümü7haneli, although he fellunder the spiritual protection of Abd al-Qadir Gilani, the founder of the KadiriSuW order. In his reading, even when concentrating exclusively on the Qur’an,Nursi always returned to the Majmu‘atu’l-ahzab (Collection of parties) ofGümü7haneli as a source of reXection. In the constitution of the New Said’sspiritual consciousness and life, the writings of Nak7ibendi sheiks played animportant role. In its originality his thought, however, departed signiWcantlyfrom the Nak7ibendi tradition. For example, SuW orders stress inner cultivationof the self, while Nursi stressed the need to reconcile faith with reason andmodern exigencies: “The future will be decided by reason and science. TheQur’anic interpretation, which addresses problems in the light of reason andscience, will shape the future.” 7Nursi’s keen interest in current events and the media made him aware ofEuropean prejudices against Islam and the weaknesses of his society in confrontingthese prejudices. His own thought was catalyzed by the confrontationbetween European-based critical thinking and the traditionally more imitativethinking of Ottoman society. 8 This led him to stress the need for fostering openand critical thinking within the Islamic-Ottoman tradition.In an eVort to bring the natural sciences together with Islamic sciences,Nursi visited Sultan Abdülhamid II in 1907 to seek his support for a universityin Van. However, the sultan rejected his proposal to reconcile scientiWc reason-