Said Nursi and Prophethood: Editor's Introduction

Abstract

Islam, or more accurately Islamism, is often in the news. Militant Islamist groups such as Boko Haram and the so-called Islamic State are constantly in the headlines. There is a great danger such groups and the atrocities they commit will determine our conception of Islam as a whole. There are two ways to address this problem. One approach is to show how unIslamic these groups are by exposing the gulf that exists between their ideology and the teaching of the Qur’ān and the hạ dīth or traditions of Muḥammad. This is above all a task for the Muslim community. The second approach is to engage with Muslim thinkers and movements who advocate interreligious dialogue, cooperation between the world’s faiths, and collaboration between East and West. Bediuzzaman Said Nursi (1877-1960) is one such thinker.