Religious plurality and nonviolence in said nursi and fethullah gülen

Abstract

In this paper I introduce two ways of conceptualizing Islam from the way in which two thinkers from the modern and contemporary Turkey, respectively, assume ethical and social values usually identified with the democratic culture: Religious plurality, tolerance and nonviolence. Said Nursi and Fethullah Gülen conceive, in the face of the stereotype of an intolerant and violent Islam, a non-violent Islam, capable of recognizing other creeds and coexist with them. Despite the sociopolitical and religious tensions that both views have caused especially in Turkey, both could be understood as enemies of Islamic fundamentalism. From their respective positions, both thinkers face the epistemological problem discussed in this paper, that is, the tension between exclusivism and religious pluralism or religious diversity. Is it possible to harmonize distinct religions that assume themselves as true? By means of the historical-philosophical analysis of Nursi and Güllen an answer to this question will be offered.