The Epistemology of Tawḥīd in Said Nursi’s Perspective as a Response to the Secularization of Modern Knowledge
Keywords:
Epistemology of Tawḥīd, Said Nursi, Secularization of Knowledge, Risale-i NurAbstract
The secularization of modern knowledge has produced a dichotomy between religious and worldly sciences, resulting in the disconnection between science, values, and divinity in the human understanding of reality. This condition has prompted various responses from Muslim thinkers, one of whom is Said Nursi through his concept of the epistemology of tawḥīd as articulated in the Risale-i Nur. This study aims to analyze how the epistemology of tawḥīd in Said Nursi’s perspective serves as a critical response to the secularization of modern knowledge and offers an integration of revelation, reason, and nature as a unified source of knowledge. This research is a qualitative library-based study employing a philosophical-analytical approach. Primary data are derived from Said Nursi’s works, particularly the Risale-i Nur, while secondary data are obtained from relevant books, journals, and scholarly literature. The data are analyzed using content analysis to examine the epistemological concepts developed by Nursi. The findings reveal that Said Nursi’s epistemology of tawḥīd rejects the separation between religious knowledge and rational sciences. For Nursi, the universe is a cosmic book (kitāb kawniyyah) that guides humans toward the recognition of God, while revelation serves as the principal guide in understanding the meaning behind natural phenomena. This integration forms a holistic, theocentric, and meaningful paradigm of knowledge. Thus, Nursi’s epistemology of tawḥīd not only critiques the secularization of modern knowledge but also proposes a model for the reconstruction of Islamic epistemology relevant to the contemporary context.
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