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Vol. 11 No. 3 (2026)
Special Issue: Risale-i Nur Studies and Bediüzzaman Said Nursi’s Intellectual Legacy

Special Issue: Risale-i Nur Studies and Bediüzzaman Said Nursi’s Intellectual Legacy

Reading the Universe and Understanding The World: Said Nursi’s Epistemological and Cosmological Framework for Islamic Theology

https://doi.org/10.55831/ajis.v11i3.1169

Published 07.06.2026

  • Mehmet Ozalp

Abstract

The way Said Nursi conceptualises the universe and natural world is central to his theological worldview and response to the intellectual challenges of modernity. This article examines Nursi’s understanding of the universe and the world through a qualitative conceptual and theological analysis of sections of the Risale-i Nur. It argues that the universe occupies a foundational place in Nursi’s epistemology and cosmology. In his thought, the universe as the “book of creation” and the Qur’an as the “book of revelation” originate from the same Divine source; therefore, they function as mutually reinforcing sources of knowledge. Human reason serves as the instrument through which the relationship between the two is discerned. The article explores Nursi’s conception of the world (dunyā) and his distinction between its functions and purposes within the Divine order. Through this framework, Nursi redirects human attention from a materialistic and hedonistic understanding of existence to a tawḥīd-centred worldview grounded in knowledge of God, moral responsibility, and preparation for the hereafter. The study concludes that Nursi’s understanding of the universe and the world forms an integrated theological response to what he regarded as the two defining challenges of the modern age: atheism and worldliness.

Keywords

Said Nursi, Risale-i Nur, Islamic theology, religious epistemology, Islamic cosmology, science and religion

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