The necessity of understanding and dissemination of the truths of Risale-i Nur, which is considered as the most important commentary of Quran in this century and which is transcribed as the droplets distilled from Quran, has gained more significance through many incidents happening recently in many areas.
The necessity of understanding and dissemination of the truths of Risale-i Nur, which is considered as the most important commentary of Quran in this century and which is transcribed as the droplets distilled from Quran, has gained more significance through many incidents happening recently in many areas. In particular the ongoing discussions on the language of Risale-i Nur and the attempts of simplifying it have made the issue much more impor¬tant. In this context it is required that field studies and methods be determi¬ned with the purpose of preserving the essence and character represented by Risale-i Nur and understanding its message better.
Not understanding the characteristic properties of Risale-i Nur has brought up various problems. Therefore understanding the basic properties of Risale-i Nur, which transfers the Quranic and Prophetic terminology to the speaking language, and knowing and preserving the language of Bediüzzaman, who witnessed the breakdowns concerning language, culture and civilization throughout the transition period from the Ottomans to the Republic, and who set up a special systematic thinking model of his own, will have a key role in the studies to be made about Risale-i Nur.
It is possible to find out the areas that should be covered in these studies in the words of Bediüzzaman, “Those who attend the circle of the lessons of Quran, even if they are the highest scholars (allameh and mujtahids) are only expected, with respect to the sciences of iman (ulûm-u imaniye) to carry out the tasks of interpreting, explaining and arranging the Words.” The essence and the purpose of the studies must be to determine the boundaries of the tasks assigned to the students of Risale-i Nur, to establish the methodology of the interpretation studies through a serious examination of procedures, to identify the study areas indicated by Bediüzzaman Said Nursi other than interpretation and thus to enable Risale-i Nur books in their original form to reach different components of society.
The studies made so far with respect to interpreting and explaining Risale-i Nur in different methods and ways, have not attained a standard in terms of language and method. Therefore in order to eliminate the differences, to search for standards and criteria of method(s) of interpreting Risale-i Nur, it is required to deal with the question in a scientific discipline. We believe that the principles and procedures required in this search can be found in Risale-i Nur itself and the methodological studies should be made under the light of the measures in Risale-i Nur. We also think that “a handbook of interpretation” based on Risale-i Nur should be prepared. We hope that the subject of this file will pioneer these studies.
As the subject of this issue of Köprü, we have chosen “the interpretation of Risale-i Nur” and we want to discuss this subject in relation to the concepts of “Risale-i Nur, the language of Risale-i Nur, commentary, interpretation, an¬notation, explanation, arrangement, ordering, correction, exposition, proving, explaining in details, simplifying, way and method” as well as to find answers for questions listed below.
What is interpretation? What subjects, concepts and fields are covered by the interpretation of Risale-i Nur? What are the features that differentiate Risale-i Nur from the other commentaries of Quran? What should be the dif¬ferences of the interpretation of Risale-i Nur from the classic interpretations? What are the basic features of the language of Risale-i Nur? What language features must be taken into consideration in the interpretation of Risale-i Nur?
What are the basic criteria that are to be used in the interpretation of Risale-i Nur? What should be the methods and ways of interpretation studies? What properties should be sought in the interpreters of Risale-i Nur? How can we establish standards for the language and methods to be used by the interpreters? How can we evaluate the attempts of simplifying Risale-i Nur with the premise that it has not been understood? What is the significance of interpretation studies in this context? How can the map of concepts in Risale-i Nur be drawn? What are the basic criteria to be used in studying concepts? How can we determine the order and the priority of the topics to be interpre¬ted in Risale-i Nur?
As we invite you to enjoy our periodical we hope that this issue of Köp¬rü, where we look for the answers of the above and similar questions, pioneer the studies related to Risale-i Nur and we wish to meet you in the 122nd issue.
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ABSTRACTS OF THE ARTİCLES
Studies that Have to Be Done Prior to Interpretation
Prof. Dr. Ali Bakkal
The need for the interpretation of Risale-i Nur increases, as the time passes and the deterioration in the Turkish language gets worse. However for an ac¬curate and sound interpretation, first of all we have to complete the studies that have to be made prior to interpretation and then determine the criteria and the ways of interpretation.
The studies that have to be completed before the interpretation can be lis¬ted as setting up a library of Risale-i Nur, preparation of the Encyclopedia of Risale-i Nur, collecting information and documents about the life of Bediüz¬zaman, determination of the authorship properties of the books of Risale-i Nur, determination of the modifications made by Bediüzzaman into the books written earlier, writing the sources for the Quranic verses and prophetic sayings narrated in Risale-i Nur and evaluation of these narrations in terms of their authenticity, putting forth the differences between Old Said, New Said, and the Third Said.
It is evident that an interpretation based on incomplete sources would be defective. First of all the basic studies required prior to the interpretation have to be completed.
Key Words: Old Said, New Said, The Third Said, Periods in Said Nursî’s life, Interpretation of Risale-i Nur, Conditions for the Interpretation of Risale-i Nur
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Interpretation of the Books of Nur
Prof. Dr. M. Muhsin Kalkışım/Gümüşhane University, Faculty of Literature
Even though a writer writes a text to be understood, there may be need for interpretation for certain reasons. Some of these reasons are the variation at the levels of readers, the lack of some basic knowledge in the text written within a certain scientific discipline, and the use of some implicit expressions. We observe that some of these reasons are also valid for Risale-i Nur. The texts of Risale-i Nur in general outlines can be positioned among the disciplines of “commentary”, “kalâm”, and “sufism”. The corpus of Risale-i Nur’s occasionally having texts containing figures of speech and metaphors shows to a certain degree the existence of ambiguity. For these reasons there is need for interpre¬tation studies in a manner whose course of action has been drawn by Bediüzza¬man. This study has been written to contribute to that course of action.
Key Words: Interpretation, methodology of interpretation, simplifying, narration
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The Conditions for the Interpretation of Risale-i Nur
İslâm Yaşar
Interpretation is a genre and a method that has been used for centuries to enable the understanding of a work and it is almost equal to writing a new work. For an interpretation to be successful, the work to be interpreted must be considered a masterpiece and a classic work of its time and must have a content that have aroused popular interest.
In this study we deal with the elements that must not be present in an in¬terpretation and based on this we put forward the conditions for interpretation studies of Risale-i Nur.
Key Words: Interpretation, explanation, arrangement, interpreter, conditions of interp¬retation, language and style
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Studying Ways and Methods in the Service of Risale-i Nur
M. Ali Kaya
Serving with Risale-i Nur is a lesson on belief and Quran for the people living in this century when logic and philosophy, science and technology pre¬vail. It is conveying the message and address of Quran to this century and the following centuries. It is teaching the high and everlasting truths of Quran to the mankind which has developed in terms of reason, thinking, humanity, science and technology and which has organized in the form of institutions and states. Teaching the lessons of Quran and this world-wide task naturally requires great efforts. An ultramodern reasoning, method, and system that will strike people with admiration must be used in teaching. This is the service of Risale-i Nur.
To carry out such a service there is need for committees specialized in their fields and Risale-i Nur and possessing the properties of “sincerity, faithfulness, and solidarity.” Members of these committees must work among themselves in cooperation and consultation and within the principles laid down by the author of Risale-i Nur. In this article we have summarized what these studies are.
Key Words: Risale-i Nur, Religious Language, Revelation, Method, Ways, Age of Hap¬piness (Golden Age), Interpretation, Explanation and Arrangement
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A Flexible Methodological Suggestion for the Interpretation Studies of Risale-i Nur
İbrahim Kaygusuz
The distinctive feature of Risale-i Nur from the classical commentaries is its focusing on the faith (iman). The science of faith is different from the others. Therefore the instruction and teaching of the science of faith must be different from the other sciences. In this context the interpretation, explanation, arran¬gement and commentary of Risale-i Nur must be different from the similar ones.
Understanding and explaining the “authenticity” of Risale-i Nur texts ne¬cessitates the discipline of a definite science. The interpretation, arrangement, commentary explanation, and completion of Risale-i Nur, due to its nature, can’t be based on a single method/ model. Otherwise it will end in a reductionist and sterilizing conclusion. A flexible multi-model, and multi-logic methodology must be chosen for Risale-i Nur. Therefore in this study such a methodological suggestion has been made for the interpretation of Risale-i Nur.
Key Words: Interpretation, arrangement, faith, methodology, simplifying
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A Concept in Risale-i Nur: Spiritual Miracle (A Trial of Interpretation)
Abdulhalim Bilici/Harran University
One of the key concepts used in Risale-i Nur with a density to draw at¬tention is the phrase of “spiritual miracle”. After a short analysis of this phrase, we deal with its relations in Risale-i Nur. Considering the statement, “Risale-i Nur is a spiritual miracle of Quran” we study the relationship between spiritual miracle and Risale-i Nur. What is a spiritual miracle? What are the aspects that make Risale-i Nur a spiritual miracle? From what points of view do we observe Risale-i Nur as a spiritual miracle? We try to deal with these and similar ques¬tions by identifying their replies in Risale-i Nur.
Key words: miracle, spiritual miracle, Quran, Risale-i Nur, sophism, kalam, keramat
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An introductory Attempt to Literary Interpretations of Risale-i Nur
Zübeyir Kaplan
Interpretation in general sense is the clarification of the incomprehensible aspects of a text. Many works have been interpreted so far in the past. There are various examples of interpretation in Risale-i Nur. In this study we dwell on the interpretation of the literary texts taking place in Risale-i Nur. We classify the literary text in the corpus and evaluate the interpretations and explanations made by Said Nursi for them. In these interpretations we notice that interp¬retations of words, expressions, statements and poems gain prominence. Our study seems to be presenting some clues for new interpretive studies related to Risale-i Nur.
Key Words: Literary Interpretation, Interpreting Words, Interpreting Concepts, Interpreting Statements, Interpreting Poems
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Explaining Risale-i Nur with Risale-i Nur An Attempt of Thematic Explanation: The Case of the Fourth Matter
Assoc. Dr. Said Yargıcı/Harran Üniversitesi
The Fourth Matter has been directly explained in Risale-i Nur in three different places in a satisfying manner. When the subject being read with these explanations gains cohesion and the message conveyed becomes clearer. The¬refore while interpreting and explaining Risale-i Nur, the other related texts from Risale-i Nur should be specified and then any arrangement should be made. Otherwise any interpretation made without considering all of the rela¬ted texts will become irrelevant to the reality and may cause much misunders¬tanding. Therefore we think that such thematic explanations would be much more appropriate than the word for word explanations of Risale-i Nur.
Key Words: Risale-i Nur, love, mercy, thematic explanation, interpretation, fourth mat¬ter, spiritual drunkenness, politics
A Trial of Interpretation for Münazarat (The Debates) on its Centenary Anniversary The text and The Interpretation Why Münazarat?
Levent Bilgi
This study is a sequence of the trial of interpretation, under the title “The Interpretation of Münazarat” that we have started previously. We will con¬centrate on the question, why Bediüzzaman Said Nursi named his work as Münazarat.
Key Words: Münazarat, debate, interpretation, the 2nd Constitutionalism
Source: This article is the editorial writing of the akademic magazine Köprü/Winter 2013