الإصلاح الاجتماعي في فكر بديع الزمان سعيد النورسي: دراسة تحليلية

Social Reform in the Thought of Bediuzzaman Said Nursi: An Analytical Study

Abstract

Social reform is considered from the Islamic perspective a vital subject for the protection of human and their fair rights in social life. Bediuzzaman Said Nursi is a prominent reformer in the late nineteenth Century. His scholarly work "Risale-i-Nur" (Treatises of Light) is regarded as a famous reform manual that was written in light of the Holy Qur’an and Prophetic Traditions. This study focuses on Risale-i-Nur in order to recognize the Social Reformation Method (SRM) that was formulated by Nursi. The researcher used analytical method in this study to explain three major points: the concept of social reformation according to Nursi, the foundations of social reformation, and the components of his SRM. As a result, the study discovers that Nursi had conceptualised that if individual is reformed, the society would consequently be reformed. Hence, he focused to formulate an effective method in reforming individual and society alike. Firstly: he emphasised on achieving self-purification through avoiding eight distractive evil characters. These are selfishness, arrogance, self-love, prestige, jealousy, impatience, unfair desires, and other forms of vices. Secondly, he emphasised on adhering to the six most important noble characters in social life. These are commitment to monotheism; the right faith, moral values, and principles; bonding of brotherhood and love; family reformation; and being virtuous. He developed this SRM consulting the Noble Qur’an and the Noble Sunnah. The application of Nursi’s SRM seems to be the suitable remedy to handle the crisis of education, moral decay, racial conflict, abuse of intellectuality, as well as cultural and civilizational backwardness of the Muslim nation.