CHALLENGING SECULARIZATION: The Educational Roles of Nurculuk Movement Muhammad Sirozi [email protected]
Transcript
Slide 1
CHALLENGING SECULARIZATION: The Educational Roles of Nurculuk
Movement Muhammad Sirozi [email protected]
Slide 2
WHO IS BEDIUZZAMAN SAID NURSI ? Said Nursi (1878 March 23,
1960) was a Turkish, a Muslim scholar who is commonly known as
Bediuzzaman, which means "the wonder of the age". The most
influential,... Turkish Muslim thinker of the twentieth century.
The most vocal and critical challenger of Kemal Ataturk and his
secularization policy. (Turner 2008)
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WHO IS BEDIUZZAMAN SAID NURSI ? His major writings are
presented in the Risale-I Nur, a collection of Quranic commentary
exceeding six thousand pages. Said Nursi is the one who shape Islam
in Turkey and draw the moderate Islam picture of Turkey and set the
future of Islam there based on faith, prayer, and ethics. Dale F.
Eickelman: Said Nursi played important role in shaping justice and
morality in contemporary societies, including the Muslim majority
world.
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SAID NURSIs INTENTION Nursis intention is simply to motivate
people to think for themselves and understand the value of life in
its diversification and its dynamism.
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Said Nursi and Nurculuk Movement Said Nursi was the founder of
what is arguably Turkey's most important popular religious
grouping, the Nurculuk Movement, which sought - and seeks - to
foster Islamic sensibilities through a system of education based on
Nursi's ideas (see Turner and Horkuc 2011).
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THE TRIGGERS OF NURCULUK MOVEMENT The conflict between Islamic
social movements and state secular ideology. Increased literacy in
Muslim society. Expanding market economy. The proliferation of
information technology.
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SECULARIZATION AGENDAS Abolished almost all Islamic
institutions (the Sultanate and the Caliphate). Banned Islamic
traditional dress (the veil for women) and propagating western
dress. Religion should not be a matter for public, but a matter of
private, for each individual citizen. Prohibited polygami. Replaced
Arabic script with Latin alphabet.
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SECULARIZATION AGENDAS Replaced the Muslim calendar of Hijriyah
with the Gregorian calendar. Closed traditional Islamic education
and introduced a modern western education system. Restricted all
religious education.
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NURCULUK: A QUITE MUSLIM REFORMATION A modern faith movement
based on the writings of Said Nursi (1876-1960). First emerged in
public in 1950 and is inspired by the teachings of Bedizzaman Said
Nursi (1873 - 1960) and is managed by his leading followers.
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NURCULUK: A QUITE MUSLIM REFORMATION Since Ataturk's death in
1938,... Turkey has been gradually moving away from his militant
secularism and experiencing "a quiet Muslim reformation." In
November of 2002, the Justice and Development Party that has strong
Islamic roots swept to victory in the Turkish parliamentary
elections.
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Theoretical Framework Abernety (1956): education and politics
are inextricably linked. Michel Foucault: the reciprocal relation
between Knowledge and Power.
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The Roles of Nurculuk Movement The Nurcus have sought to
establish a sense of community within a secular state through
religiously rooted and socially shaped networks. A significant
religious force that play important role in slowing down the spread
of secular policies in public sphere.
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Nurculuk Movement and Turkish Politics 1950s the political
channel used by the followers of Nurculuk was the Democratic Party
(DP) of Prime Minister Adnan Menderes. 1960s the channel was the
Justice Party (AP) of Suleyman Demirel, who was Prime minister at
the time and later became President. 1970s it was the National
Salvation Party (MSP) of the then Vice-Premier, later Premier,
Necmettin Erbakan. From the 1980s onwards, the True Path Party
(DYP) and the Motherland Party (ANAP).
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The Darsanah (Dershanes) as a Network of Nurculuk Movement A
special apartment floor or one-floor building and a congregation of
people who meet there to read and discuss the writings of Nursi
Darsanas are central to Nur identity and facilitate the formation
of multifaceted close networks of relationships among followers [of
Said Nursi], who are able to form a bond of trust and civility
among themselves.
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The Influences of Risale-I Nur For Turner and Horkuc (2011),
The Risale-i Nur is a logical and scientifically based concept for
dealing with the problems and challenges that increasingly face
Muslims in the modern world. The objective of Said Nursis work, The
Risale-i Nur, is to promulgate an Islam that brought all Muslims
under a common faith but added the advantages of Western
technology.
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The Main Objectives of Risale-I Nur To raise the consciousness
of Muslims. To refute the dominant intellectual discourses of
materialism and positivism. To recover collective memory by
revising the shared grammer of society, Islam. (see Yavuz
2000).
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Repeated Trials for Said Nursi Said Nursi was repeatedly put in
trials in 1944, 1948, 1952, 1956 and 1958. The repeated trials did
not stop the spread of his writings and the rise of the Nurculuk
movement. In 1950, while he was still dealing the trials of
Ataturks government, Nursis writings were firt printed and
circulated in Turkey by his students or followers who are united in
Nurculuk movement.
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Nurculuk Movement Today Followed by an estimated seven million
Muslims worldwide, standing out from other contemporary Muslim
religious and ideological groupings. The followers of Nurculuk
movement are primarily interested in Said Nursis teachings on the
importance of renewing individual and collective faith and
rejecting any kind of religiously legitimized violence or militancy
for the sake of politico-ideological ends. Nurculuk followers are
interested in Nursis ideas regarding the solution to the decline of
Islamic civilization by unifying science and religion.
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The Unity of Religion and Science For Nursi, religion and
science are not mutually exclusive. They can be connected and
reciprocal, thus, should not be let to develop alone. Religion and
science need to be unified, so that they can support and enrich one
to another. If [religion and science] are separated, it [the
separation] gives rise to ignorance and fanaticism in religion and
fallacies and scepticism in the science.
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Religion and Science Nursi warns: religion can not replace
science and vice versa. Each caterogy has unique benefits in
explaining, understanding, and predicting human issues. "The
science of religion is the light of the conscience. Civilisations
(natural) sciences are the light of the intellect. (Said Nursi
1996, p. 2).