American Academy of Religion

Globalization, Ethics and Islam: The Case of Bediuzzaman Said Nursi by Ian Markham; Ibrahim
Ozdemir
Review by: Ibrahim Abu Bakar
Journal of the American Academy of Religion, Vol. 74, No. 2, Religion and Secrecy (Jun.,
2006), pp. 534-536
Published by: Oxford University Press
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4094056 .
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534 Journalof theAmerican ofReligion
Academy

Globalization, Ethics and Islam: The Case of Bediuzzaman Said Nursi.

Edited by Ian Markham and Ibrahim Ozdemir. Ashgate, 2005. 218 pages.
$89.95.

There have been numerous symposia,articles,and books on Bediuzzaaman

SaidNursi (1876-1960) whose magnum opus is collectivelyknown as the Risale-
i Nur, which has been translatedinto Arabic,English,and other languages.The
international symposia on his life, works, and contributions have been held
many times in Istanbul,Turkey.The fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh symposia
were held in 1998, 2000, 2002, and 2004 respectively.Moreover,there have been
websites dedicated to Nursi. A major website, http://www.nursistudies.com,is
availablein five languagesincluding Turkish,Arabic,and English and contains
symposium papersof 2002 and 2004 meetings as well as books, articles,and the-
ses on Nursi and relatedmatters.
Globalization,Ethicsand Islam: The Case of BediuzzamanSaid Nursi is co-
edited by Nursi scholars Ian Markham and Ibrahim Ozdemir. Both scholars
have presented their works at various Nursi symposia in Istanbul.The editors
divide the essays in this volume into three different parts with three different
themes. The theme for the part one is "Non-Violence and Peace"with three
chapterswritten by SukranVahide (3-35), Thomas Michel (37-47), and John
Obert Voll (48-62). The three chapters depict non-violence and peaceful
approachesfound in the life and works of Nursi.
The themefor the secondpartis "Ethicsand Dialogue,"whichhas fivechapters.
The fourthchapteris writtenby Markhamwith the title,"Secularor ReligiousFoun-
dations for Ethics:A Case Study of BediuzzamanSaid Nursi" (65-78). Markham
arguesthat Nursi'sethics is basedon Islamicreligiousfoundations,not on secular
ones. However,his ethicalfoundationsare committedto pluralism,diversity,and
dialogue.Under six headings,"(a) source, (b) method, (c) approachto disagree-
ment andpluralism,(d) personalethics,(e) socialethics,and (f) factorsthatcan cor-
rupta moraldisposition,"MarkhamexploresNursi'sethicalsystem(65).
In chapter5, Asma Afsaruddinfocuses on the patience and humility found
in the Qur'anand in the Risale-iNur. Regardingpatience she states, "Patienceis
Beautiful"(79). What is expressedby Asma about the importanceof patience in
Islam is evident from the Qur'an as well as from the work of Nursi since his
work is an interpretationof the Qur'an.In Qur'anicethics, the term humility is
related to human reliance and dependence on God. Muslims are asked to feel
humble and behavehumblybefore their God, and they are prohibitedfrom feel-
ing and behavingarrogantlyand unthankfully.
Patrice C. Brodeur contributes a chapter on "The Ethics of Bediuzzaman
SaidNursi'sDialoguewith the West in Lightof His Conceptof 'Europe'" (89-107).
Brodeur posits that idea that "The word 'Europe'appearsforty seven times in
the Risale-iNur collection, not counting another eight occurrencesof the noun
or adjective'European(s)'and the single appearanceof the neologism 'Europe-
anism' "(91). Brodeurdivides Nursi's concept of Europeinto geographicaland
ethical categories.For the ethical category,Brodeurclassifiesit into positive and

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 BookReviews 535

negativeconcepts of Europe.The positive Europeis "worthemulating"whereas

the negativeEurope is "to be avoided at all cost." Broduerexplainswhy he uses
such adjectivesstating, "I use the adjectives'positive'and 'negative'to reinforce
the dichotomous and often moralistic (i.e., 'good' or 'bad') meanings that
implicitlycharacterize,in my opinion, Nursi's usage of 'Europe'" (91). The neg-
ative "Europe"refers to Europeanatheism, communism, materialism,capital-
ism, and secularism.The positive "Europe"refersto the Europeansciences and
technologies.
Jemil Hee-Son Lee comparesthe ethical systems in the works of Confucius
and Nursi in his chapteron "Ethicsin the Confucian Text: ComparativeStudy
with Risale-iNur" (100-107). Lee finds many similaritiesbetween the ethics of
Nursi and Confucius. Some of the majorthemes in both thinkersare good con-
duct, practicalwisdom, propersocial relationship,balancedpersonality,charity,
uprightness,courage,and wisdom. Lee concludes, "Surprisingly,this basic Con-
fucian philosophy and guidance and, in particular,the matter of ethics and
moralitycan be found in the Risale-iNur to a greatextent"(107).
According to SukranVahide's contribution "Nursi'sViews on Christianity
and the West" (109-118), Nursi sees that Islam and Christianityas well as Mus-
lims and Christiansneed to cooperateand work togetherto "struggleagainstthe
forces of unbelief and irreligion"(117). Some of the antireligiousforces Sukran
Vahide highlights are the philosophies and ideologies of materialism,commu-
nism, atheism,and irreligiousor secularethicalprinciples.
The theme for the third part of Globalization,Ethics and Islam: The Case
of Bediuzzaman Said Nursi is globalization. This section consists of eight
chapters. In chapter nine, Oliver Leaman looks for the answers in the works
of Nursi by posing the question, "Is Globalization a Threat to Islam? Said
Nursi's Response" (121-126). To that question, Leaman finds an affirmative
answer from Nursi. Globalization is indeed seen as a threat to Islam since it
encourages Muslims to think and live like non-Muslims in the West. In
addition, globalization is viewed as being dominated by atheism and materi-
alism, and hegemony and homogenization are both associated with global-
ization. However, Nursi is said "to be confident of the ability of Islam to
resist the forces of globalization, and indeed were he to be alive today he
would welcome the role which Islam is now playing in presenting itself glo-
bally to a wide range of audiences"(125-126).
In chapter10, MahanH. Mirzapresents"BediuzzamanSaidNursi'sHistorical
Self-Consciousness"(127-135). Accordingto Mirza,Nursi believesin the end of
human history in this world and "in a teleologicalnotion of history, with Islam
as its culmination" (135). No doubt, Nursi believes in the end of this world
becauseit is part of Islamicand Muslim eschatology.
In chapter 11, Amer Al-Roubaieand ShaifiqAlvi present "Globalizationin
Light of Bediuzzaman Said Nursi's Risale-i Nur: An Exposition" (136-147).
They conclude that the work of Nursi contains "a Divine guidance to promote
man's spiritualand materialhappinessboth in this world and the hereafter....
On the contrary,globalizationis a worldlyaffairbased on secularprincipleswith
the objective of standardizinghuman culture and establishinga global village

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536 Journalof theAmericanAcademyof Religion

society"(146). However,they add, "globalizationcould be beneficialif Muslims

learnhow to make use of its scientificand technologicalcontents in the advance-
ment of their own societies"(147).
In chapter 12, FredA. Reed explains"Globalization:Its Meaning,Scope and
Impactin the Lightof BediuzzamanSaidNursi's DamascusSermon"(148-156).
Reed concludes that in "his Damascus Sermon and the documents that accom-
panyit,"Nursiidentifies"theillsof the age"as thoseillscanbe treatedandovercome
through Muslimbrotherhood,"commonhumanityand culturaldialogue"
(156).
Concludingthe finalpartof the collectionarechaptersby NecatiAydinon
"Virtueversus Decadence:The Struggleof Civilizationswithin the Global
Village,"DurmusHocaogluon "Islamand Modernity," Wolf D. AhmedAries
on "TheGestureof SaidNursias a Challengeto Modernity," andMarkhamon
"Rethinking Globalization:Hardt and Negri in Conversation with SaidNursi"
(202-211).
Therearesomeshortcomings in thiscollection.Theintroductionof thebook
containssome controversial, polemical,and contradictory statements,namely
"aMuslimis alwaysbetterthana non-Muslim(evena non-Muslimscholarof
Islam)"in teachingIslam(xv);"inAmericatodaytheexpertson Islam... arethe
opponents(xviii);""Thisbookis intendedto be a correctiveto the Pipesworld-
view. The book partlyagreeswith Pipesin two respects"(xvii). A technical
drawback is the bookfailsto usethe transliterationsystemforArabictermsand
someArabictermsareitalicized.In addition,thereis not a uniformformatfor
the presentationof the chapters.Chapter13 for instancehas a bibliography at
the endwhereasotherchaptersuse a varietyof citationmethodsincludingend-
notes,in text citation,and footnotes.Lastly,the book couldstandbettercopy
editingastherearespellingmistakessuchas"indendence" (49),"withdew" (50),
"clams" (53),"indentified" (59),and"Daijal" (134)andsomeothererrorsaswell.
doi:10.1093/jaarel/1f072 IbrahimAbu Bakar
AdvanceAccesspublicationApril 12, 2006 National Universityof Malaysia

Islam: Its History, Teaching,and Practices.By S. A. Nigosian. Indiana

University Press, 2004. 178 pages. $19.95.

Nigosian makes it clear in the prefaceof his book that his basic intent is to
outline the essentialaspectsof Islam as a living force. The author does not claim
to provide a systematicexposition of Islam'shistory or philosophy. Rather,his
focus is to identify a great world religion and recognize its contributions to
human civilization.However, apart from a couple of paragraphs,the book has
little to say regardingMuslim contribution to human civilization or the scien-
tific achievementsof medievalMuslim scholars.
This brief introduction to Islam is based on secondary (primarily west-
ern) sources. It is organized around seven topics: the life of Muhammad;

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